A Smuggler's Tale
by xRandomestx
Summary: A simple story of adventure, friendship and love. FemRevan x Onasi
1. Prologue

**Okay, so I wrote this a couple years ago. **

**Spent hours upon hours on it and it's just been sitting on my computer doing nothing so I've decided to just upload it in its current form. **

**Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I own nothing but my character, Valery Mason. **

* * *

**Prologue: The Endar Spire**

There was no time to prepare. No time to think. We just had to react. The Sith were upon us, the ship I was serving on; the Endar Spire, was being blown to bits. My bunk mate, Trask Ulgo woke me in a hurry, explaining the situation whilst I ran around, pulling on my boots and stuffing my every belonging into the pockets of my jacket and pants. I didn't have the time or means to pull back my hair, so it was left hanging free.

A call went out on our communicators and I heard his voice for the very first time; "This is Carth Onasi – the Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out long against their firepower! All hands to the Bridge!" I couldn't see his face, but I heard his voice, loud and clear through Ulgo's device. I had already decided to ignore that order, running through the map of the ship in my mind, calculating the quickest route to the escape pods, but my companion wouldn't have it.

He reminded me of some oath I had taken to protect some woman called Bastila – an oath I didn't recall making. He then went on to say that the Republic had given up on trying to catch me for my blaster and spice smuggling ways and had decided to hire me instead. Surely that counted for something.

Honestly, it didn't.

I didn't give a rat's ass about the Republic or much else above my own wellbeing at that moment in time, but nevertheless I couldn't find it in me to let the fool fight his way to the Sith-infested Bridge by his lonesome. So, morally, I was forced to accompany him, covering his back, battling our way to the Bridge, only to find it was empty.

"Bastila's not on the Bridge," He told me, as if I couldn't see that for myself, "She must've made it to the escape pods already."

I frowned at him as I wiped my vibroblade clean on the shirt of a dead Republic soldier. "The Sith want Bastila alive, but once she's off the ship, there's nothing stopping them from turning the Endar Spire into space dust! We have to get to the escape pods!" As was my plan from the beginning.

I soon found myself alone. Trask Ulgo didn't make it.

I used my Republic-issued communicator for the first time to answer a call from Carth Onasi, "This is Carth Onasi. I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spire's life support systems. Bastila's escape pod is away – you're the last surviving crew member of the Endar Spire. Now, I can't wait for you much longer; you have to get to the escape pods, now!"

The news was disturbing and I did quicken my pace, but I still rolled my eyes, "What? The escape pods? Is _that_ where I have to get to? Jeez, thank god you told me because, you know, the thought never crossed my mind." I mumbled, peeking around the corner at a lone Sith Patrol wielding a rather nasty blaster. Seeing as I didn't exactly fancy getting a blaster bolt through my stomach, or risking alerting any other patrols that might have been wandering about, I engaged my Stealth Field Generator before beginning to slowly creep down the hall.

I walked through the door to the escape pod launch room, stopping for a moment to scrape some fried brain from the bottom of my boot. There was the horrible smell of burnt material, skin and hair wafting about. I tried not to gag.

For the first time, I came face-to-face with Carth Onasi. He informed me that there was just one escape pod left and that we could use it to escape and hide out on the planet below.

The last thing I remember seeing was his burnt orange jacket and then, _pain…_


	2. 1-1

**Act 1: Taris**

_A girl with a yellow lightsaber was in a heated battle with a Dark Jedi. The battle was short, the yellow-bladed Jedi clearly more skilled than the Sith. I watched as the dark clothed man fell, and the girl looked up, her eyes narrowing as she faced her greatest foe—_

I woke suddenly, and threw myself from the bed, landing ungracefully in a heap on the cold metal floor. My pale legs were bare, and I could see more than a few places where someone had placed Kolto patches over deep cuts and bruises. Looking over myself, I could see more on my arms and stomach. Each injury throbbed or stung like hell, but the worst pain was originating from the back of my head. From the amount of pain I was experiencing, I decided that I probably didn't want to know what amount of damage was done.

Looking around, I was met with the studious eyes of Carth Onasi, who ironically looked fit as a fiddle with not a scratch or bump in sight.

He smiled in relief as I rubbed the back of my neck, wincing. I struggled to my feet and then sat down shakily on the bed. He stepped closer, looking me over.

"Good to see you up instead of thrashing around in your sleep. Must have been one hell of a nightmare. I'm Carth, a Republic soldier from the Endar Spire." He introduced.

"Right, you were with me on the escape pod." I decided to ignore the mention of nightmares.

"Good, you remember."

"What I remember is your terrible landing skills that got me knocked unconscious for however long it's been." I grumbled, glaring up at him accusingly.

"Hey," He protested, "I was under a lot of pressure!"

I waved him off with a scoff, "Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm Valery Mason." I said, offering him a hand. He took it and I watched as my tiny hand disappeared in his own massive, warm one. I let go. "So, Mr. Scratchy-Landing. How did we get here?"

"You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for a couple of days now, so I imagine you're pretty confused about things. Try not to worry; we're safe… at least for the moment."

I shrugged my shoulders and stared up at him, not yet ready to stand, "I'm not worried."

He gave a small smile, "That's good. I was able to drag you away from our crash site in all the confusion and I stumbled into this abandoned apartment. By the time the Sith arrived on the scene, we were long gone."

I nodded, taking it in, "Uh-huh." Then I clapped, getting to my feet, filled with a sudden burst of energy, "So… are we just going to wait here for the Republic to rescue us?" I asked.

Carth shook his head, two strands of hair moving to hang over his eyes, "Taris is under Sith control. Their fleet is orbiting the planet, they've decreed martial law and they've imposed a planet-wide quarantine. But I've been in worse spots."

I rolled my eyes, chuckling, "Yeah, yeah; you're a big Republic hero, we get it. But what are we supposed to do since the Republic can't get to us? Sit around here and rot?" I said, glancing distastefully at the dusty, dirty apartment.

He shook his head, "No. Bastila was on one of the escape pods that crashed down here on Taris. And it's our duty to find her and return her safely to a Republic world."

"Again with Bastila? What is it that makes this chick so special?"

"Bastila's a _Jedi_, Mason. She was with the strike team that killed Darth Revan, Malak's Sith Master."

"Right." I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Bastila's the key to the whole Republic war effort. The Sith must have found out she was on the Endar Spire and set an ambush for us in this system. For the sake of the Republic, we have to try and find her."

"Well, Bastila's a Jedi, so she can probably look after herself." I reasoned.

Again, Onasi shook his head. "Bastila's going to need our help. She's going to have half the Sith fleet looking for her. They know how important she is."

I threw my hands up in the air in irritation. "And yet again –_why_?

Carth sighed, "That bump on you head must've done more damage than I thought. Bastila is no ordinary Jedi, She has a rare gift the Jedi call Battle Meditation. Bastila's power can influence entire armies. Through the Force, Bastila can inspire her allies with confidence and make her enemies lose the will to fight. And often, that's all it takes to tip the balance in a battle."

I moved to lean against the workbench on the back wall of the apartment, smoothing out the front of my once-white linen shirt and tugging it further down over my hips, "If Bastila's so great, how come the Sith managed to blow up the Endar Spire?"

He frowned, "There are limits to what she can do. From what I understand, it requires great concentration and focus to maintain her Battle Meditation. The attack on the Endar Spire happened so fast I'm guessing she never got a chance to use her power. She probably just barely got out alive and now she's as trapped here as we are. To get off Taris, she's going to need our help. And we'll probably need her's."

I wasn't convinced. I shook my head, walking over to the footlocker to the right of the workbench and digging out my belongings, –and a pair of pants—returning them to all their previous hiding places. Boots included. "Yeah… I think I'll take my chances on my own. I didn't sign up for this."

Carth's response surprised me, rolling his eyes at me, "Don't be a fool! You're not getting off this world without help, and you can't hide here forever. Do you have _any_ idea what will happen if the Sith find you?"

I straightened, glancing back at him over my shoulder, clipping my gun to my belt. "They'll… die?" I said it like a question.

"No. _You _will die."

"You think I can't handle myself?" I asked, turning to look at him challengingly.

He met my eyes squarely, "I just know that you aren't getting off Taris without somebody to help you off. We need to work together if we're going to survive."

We stared at each other for a long time, before I narrowed my eyes and broke eye contact, looking away.

"You know I'm right."

I snarled angrily, "Fine. If it means getting off this world, I'll help you find your little Jedi savior."

He let a small smile of victory cross his face before he nodded, completely serious, "Good. While you were out I did some scouting around. There have been reports of escape pods crashing into the Undercity of Taris. So that's probably a good place to start. But the Undercity is a dangerous place. We don't want to go in there unprepared. It won't do Bastila any good if we go and get ourselves killed."

"Won't do us any favors either." I mumbled, and then louder I said, "Well, the sooner we start looking for Bastila, the sooner we find her, the sooner I get off this rock."

Carth nodded, "Right. We can use this apartment as a base, and we can get everything we need here in the Uppercity. Just remember to keep a low profile. I figure if we don't do anything stupid we should be okay. I mean, after all, they're looking for Bastila, not a couple of grunts like us. Alright soldier, let's move out."

I saluted him mockingly, "Aye sir."

* * *

We didn't get very far that day. Beyond the fact that we saved some old man from getting blown to bits by two of this guy Davik Kang's cronies, and we happened to chance by the Medical Facility, and the doctor there, Zelka Forn who Carth swore was hiding something, there was little chance to find out anything really important before the sun went down. I was still sore from the crash, and Carth seemed more withdrawn than before. He was definitely a man of few words, but I could see the dark bags beneath his brown eyes. He insisted on sleeping in a chair that night, and I admit that I didn't even attempt to object to sleeping in the only bed in the apartment.

The next morning we woke, dressed, walked out the door, and came face to face with a small patrol of Sith.

"Everyone up against the wall! This is a raid!" The human Sith demanded. He was flanked by two battle droids, their red eyes glowing in the dim lighting.

Two Duros stood before the Sith patrol, and one, was obviously none too bright, "There was a patrol here just yesterday, and they found nothing! Why do you Sith keep bothering us?" He cried in his own tongue.

Without hesitation, the human Sith shot two bolts into the Duros' chest. "This is how we Sith deal with smart-mouthed scum! Now the rest of you, against the wall!"

Meanwhile, Carth and I had slowly begun to back away, toward the other direction. "We'll just sneak around here—" I whispered to myself.

Suddenly the human Sith twirled around, and his dark eyes settled on our retreating forms, "What's this? Humans hiding out with aliens?" For a moment, he just stared at us. Then, his eyes widened in realization and he raised his blaster, yelling, "They're Republic fugitives! Attack!"

The fight was over quickly, and the destroyed shells of the three Sith, droid and human, fell to the floor, lifeless. "Poor Ixgil. He should've known better than to talk back to that Sith. Thank you for your help, human. Truly."

"I'm sorry about your friend." I told him quietly, truly regretful.

He sighed, "This life was none too kind to him. Perhaps he will be happier in the next."

"What about—"

"The bodies?" He sighed again. Poor guy was hurting. "Don't worry about them, I will move them someplace else, – throw the Sith off the track. With any luck, they won't be bothering us again for a while."

"Farewell."

"Thank you again, human."

We left the apartment complex and were strolling about the streets of the upper city Taris, just checking out the place, whilst keeping an ear out for any gossip involving the escape pods in the Undercity. I wasn't used to such silence between myself and a companion, so, I began the conversation.

"So, seeing as how we have to 'work together to survive', I'd like to know some more about you, Onasi."

It seemed that Carth was expecting this sort of questioning, and didn't seem too surprised. "Well, I've been a star pilot for the Republic for years. I've seen my share of wars…I fought in the Mandalorian Wars before this all started."

I raised one eyebrow, "Were you at Malachor V?"

"No. Thankfully not. I've heard stories about that battle, everyone has. The carnage that the two forces let loose on each other… but with all that, I've never experienced anything like the slaughter these Sith animals can unleash. Not even the Mandalorians were that senseless. My home world was one of the first planets to fall to Malak's fleet. The Sith bombed it into submission, and there wasn't a damn thing the Republic forces could do to stop them!" Carth was almost shouting it at me, and we were attracting too much attention.

"Calm down. I was just asking." I snapped, looking nervously toward a Sith patrol who were watching us suspiciously.

Onasi stabbed a finger toward me, anger marring his features, "You're the one who wanted to know more about me. Well this is it, this is what I am. I'm just a soldier; I go where the fleet Admiral's tell me to. I follow my orders and I do my duty. It just…" He sighed, "doesn't seem right that doing that means I failed them! I didn't!"

I had to stop him yelling. "Carth, please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, but please, for both our sakes, keep it down will you?" Man, I knew who was getting the bed tonight.

He clearly didn't listen to that last bit, but he did stop screaming and the Sith kept walking, "I know. Don't worry about it. I just… must not be making much sense. I know you mean well with your questions, I'm just not accustomed to talking about my past very much. At all, actually. I'm more used to taking action… keeping my mind focused on the business at hand. So let's do just that."

I nodded, grabbing his forearm and pulling him further along the street. Next time I talked to him, I'd have to make sure that we were alone.

* * *

After a long walk around, we had located the Cantina, the droid shop, the weapons store, and the elevator to the Lower city, but there was the problem of the Sith guarding it. I had a very unpleasant chat with the guard and then wandered back to Carth who was waiting for me a few standard meters away.

"So, there's a Sith guarding the Lower city elevator and he ain't gonna let no one pass unless they have the proper security clearance, or… they merely look like a Sith."

I gazed at Carth curiously, noticing that he hadn't heard a thing I just said. "Carth? What's wrong?"

He jumped at my question, "Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just watching that guy over there. The one surrounded by that big crowd. I wonder what's going on."

I looked at Carth for a moment before shaking my head. So much for focusing on the business at hand. "Let's go take a look shall we?"

"The evil is among us! The enemy is here! We must act now before we are overrun with the vermin invaders!" The man shouted. I slipped through the thickening crowd, not glancing back to see whether or not Onasi was following. I found a nice vantage point just to the right of the man, right up front. And a hush went over the crowd as the man began to speak.

"Friends and fellow humans-I bring you a warning! A warning of a great plague spreading across our planet! Please, listen to me! My name is Gorton Colu. Will you join my cause? We must band together if we are to stop the spread of vermin and scum throughout Taris!"

I frowned, not knowing what he was referring to. I called out from the soft chattering of the crowd. "Vermin and scum? What are you talking about?"

The man searched me out in the crowd and I stared back at him unflinchingly, "I am speaking of the hideous aliens who walk the world of Taris! The Wookiees and Ithorians and Rodians and Bith - all of them! Listen, friend, for these are dark times. That is why, I, Gorton Colu, have formed the Anti-Alien League. The time has come for action! We cannot stand idly by while aliens blight our glorious planet!"

My face darkened and my upper lip curled back in a disgusted, hateful snarl, "I don't know which is worse - your hate mongering or your ignorance. Stay away from me you pathetic kook." I turned to start making my way out of the crowd, anger roiling in my gut. Racist bastards. I couldn't stand them.

"You are like all the rest! You will not see the truth! On the day of reckoning you will suffer with the rest of the alien lovers!"

I stopped where I was, painfully aware of every single pair of eyes in the crowd on me. I turned to look at him, and when I spoke, my voice dripped with menace. An anger I didn't know I possessed was flowing through my veins, clouding my mind, turning everything I saw into a bright shade of red. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was terrified. Where had it come from? How had it appeared so quickly?

"Huh… How 'bout I make you suffer you racist son-of-a—"

I lurched toward him, hate in my eyes and my fists clenched, ready to beat him to death. But then Carth was there, holding me back, hissing in my ear to back off, that he wasn't worth it.

"Kook or no, people like him can make trouble for us!" He hissed.

"Not if I kill him first!" I grunted, struggling against him.

The idiot kept on talking, shaking his head in disappointment at me. "It pains me to see that an alien lover such as yourself is allowed to walk free!"

"In a minute you won't be able to walk at all!"

"I have seen how the Sith operate… I know they will support my anti-alien policies. When the day of reckoning comes, you will suffer with the rest of the scum and alien lovers!"

"Bigot! Racist! Kook!" I spat hatefully.

Carth dragged me away from the man and his crowd. His arms were like steel around my torso, even as I stopped resisting him. I flipped the racist man off, feeling a bit better about it.

Onasi dragged me into an alleyway, freed me from his hold and then stood and glared at me, "You could have compromised the entire mission just now, Mason! Do you want to die? Did you not see how many Sith were watching the spectacle you just put on?" He hissed.

I frowned at him stubbornly, "What? He was a racist. Ignorant fool. They make everyone's lives harder than necessary." I crossed my arms and looked righteously off past him.

"Even so we can't afford to get caught! Get your mind out of the gutter and just try to understand the importance of what we are doing. We have to find Bastila, nothing else matters. Not some kook on the street, not some bounty hunters, not even you or me. Just Bastila. Got it?"

I scoffed, "It's not like you're any better." He glared at me and I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Fine. Whatever. I'll stop protecting the weak, innocent and helpless and stick to saving the useless Jedi savior. Happy?"

Onasi sighed and wiped his hands down his face, stress streaming off him in torrents. "That's not…" He groaned in irritation. "I've only known you for a day and you're seriously getting on my nerves, you know that?"

I grinned at him, "Why thank you."

He raised his eyebrows at me tiredly, "Alright, we both stay calm, help out where we can and stay under the radar, agreed?"

"Agreed." I nodded. "We shall no longer act like tired, beaten psychopaths who just escaped a spaceship moments before it exploded and are now all alone on a city planet occupied by the Sith. We shall remain perfectly calm and relaxed and focussed."

Carth chuckled slightly, grim, "Agreed. Are you ready to get back out there?"

I nodded, clapping, "Hells yeah! Let's go find your Jedi." I said enthusiastically.

Carth stared at me for a moment before shaking his head and moving off.

* * *

Not much more was accomplished that day. We went to the Uppercity Cantina for dinner and Carth glowered at anyone who came within a meter of our table. I ignored him. As I was returning from the bathroom some royal brat screamed at me for her drinks, thinking that I was her waiter. I told her to shut up, and then walked off. As we were leaving the Cantina later that night, that same hag and her thugs were waiting for us.

"You need a lesson on proper serving ettiquite!" She grinned arrogantly.

Carth sighed and swiftly shot both thugs in the head and then watched, not amused as the hag ran off screaming for her daddy. He turned on me, who was standing there trying in vain to hide the grin on my face.

"Should I even ask?"

I shook my head with a smile, shrugging. "Don't ask questions if you know you're not going to like the answer."


	3. 1-2

**Cannot believe I have to go through all of these and put in the line breaks. What a pain. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I woke early the next morning in the chair, my sleep filled once again with dreams of the yellow-bladed woman. Onasi woke just before dawn and was surprised to see me up and ready, waiting for him to get ready himself.

"You don't strike me as the kind of person who gets up early in the morning. Are you alright?"

I nodded, my back to him as he dressed. "Yeah, I'm fine." I didn't sound very convincing and it was clear that Carth wasn't convinced, but he didn't push it.

After he was dressed, we assessed the low amount of credits we now had on hand. There was not much there.

"I could enter that dueling tournament we saw in the Cantina; that must drag in more than a couple of creds." I offered, but Carth shook his head.

"No, that'll attract too much attention to us. We need something more… subtle."

Immediately, and idea sprung to mind, but I knew that Carth wouldn't like it.

* * *

"I don't like this."

"Don't worry; I've done this hundreds of times, Onasi." I chirped.

"I don't doubt it." He grumbled, not happy. I didn't care. I was having a great time. I knew this wouldn't do much for Carth's low opinion of me. He knew that I was, or had been a smuggler before all this, and he had noticed how little I cared about most things. Back then, I didn't give a damn about him or whether or not he hated me. To me, he was nothing more than a means to an end; the end being my getting off of Taris in one piece. After that I planned on ditching him and the Jedi and never looking back.

I sprung lock on the door, and began my search of the room, finding little but a few credits. I left, and began to work on the room next door. Soon, the contents of almost every room in the complex were stuffed into my pockets, and I was picking the lock of the last room.

"See? This wasn't so bad was it, Onasi? Look how much stuff we got! This'll help things along for sure! Now just one more room…"

I looked up with a victorious smile and straightened before flinching as a blaster was pointed directly at my head.

"You can't just come barging in here! This is my home!" The woman shouted, swinging her gun around. Her hair was a tangled mess and it looked as if she'd been crying.

"Uhh…" Was all that I got out before she started shouting again.

"Y-You work for Holdan don't you?!" She suddenly screamed, her voice cracking and her eyes widening in terrified anger. I staggered back out into the hall in shock, my own eyes wide. What the hell… "You've come to collect the price on my head! Well now you'll learn the same lesson I taught Holdan: I'm not as helpless as I look!" She shrieked before beginning to fire.

Without hesitation, I dived to the left, ducking to the side of the doorway. But Carth wasn't quick enough, I watched as a bolt hit him right in the leg and he cried out in pain. Before I knew what was happening, I had moved, and barely a moment later, I looked down to see the woman impaled on my Vibroblade. I watched in shock as the light faded from the woman's eyes. I stepped back, pulling the blade from her body and then looking down at it like it was something foreign. I had never moved that fast. I couldn't even remember moving. How had—a pained groan from behind me pulled me from my troubled, confused thoughts.

"Oh frack! Carth! Are you alright?" I moved to him.

He was laying on his side, clutching at his leg. "Ugh, I'll live…" He groaned in pain.

I bent down and carefully helped him to his feet, "Come on, easy does it. Let's go get you fixed up."

* * *

"You should've moved."

"I tried. She was too quick."

"Please. You're just old and fat."

"I am not."

"I should just put you down now. Cripple."

"Har har. You're hilarious."

"I am hilarious. And you're a cripple."

Zelka Forn listened to our banter with a raised eyebrow and a small smile on the corner of his lips that I didn't much like. I watched the man with narrowed eyes and he saw that he had been caught, but instead of breaking eye contact he smiled at me and gave me a wink before moving off to get some more kolto. I frowned at his back.

It took ages for Carth's leg to be patched up, but they did a thorough job of it.

While the medical droid was finishing up with the bandaging, I found myself chatting to Zelka Forn about this thing called the Rakghoul disease. He told me how for many generations, the Rakghoul creatures living in the Undercity of Taris have attacked, fed on and infected the people living there, causing them to mutate into Rakghoul themselves, becoming mindless beasts that feed on the flesh of others. Zelka told me how there was no real antidote, but before the Sith had taken over, he had heard that some Republic scientists had been close to perfecting a cure. If what he heard was true, then he guessed that the Sith were keeping all the serum for the patrols they sent into the Undercity.

"If I could just get my hands on a sample of that serum, the Rakghoul disease could be wiped from the face of Taris forever!" He was looking past me as he spoke, as if seeing from a distance, him completing his great dream. But then, he seemed to deflate. Shaking his head as his voice softened and saddened. "But I don't see how that's ever going to happen."

I nodded, barely listening as I wondered how much longer this would all take. The medical droid made a beeping sound and I got my answer. I turned to see Carth sliding slowly off of the operating table. He stepped forward and winced, but didn't wobble or fall. He was walked with an obvious limp now, but the doctor assured us that the Kolto would fix it up in no time.

"Thank you for your help, Doctor Forn." Carth said sincerely, favoring his good leg as he stood there.

"Anytime." The doctor replied with a small smile, whilst still looking mighty depressed.

I left cheerfully, never having like hospitals that much and glad to be gone and Carth hobbled along behind.

I decided to make Carth return to the apartment and rest, while I figured out a way to get access to the elevator. He was not very happy about it but after a small debate, he resigned. I watched as he limped slowly back toward the way we came.

Figures that the moment Carth was gone and I was alone in the Cantina, opportunities threw themselves at me. A Sith woman named Sarna seemed to take a 'special' kind of liking to me the moment I approached her and fired up the conversation. It wasn't long before I found myself being dragged by an already giggly Sith woman to a Sith-only party that was being held in the apartment complex across the way. There, I discovered at least two-dozen more giggly Sith and a pile of more than a few Tarisian ale bottles growing in the corner. I felt overwhelmed by the sheer-risk of it all, and knew that if these Sith weren't the ones to kill me, then Carth sure would.

After about an hour and a half, Sarna was all over me and I didn't really know what to do. She was dopey and giggling at everything I said or did, and so I did the first thing that came to mind—I knocked her out. Just a quick elbow jab to her temple did the trick. I glanced around wondering if anyone saw, but it seemed that pretty much every other Sith were passed out on the floor, or on a chair, or across a table with drool running out of the corner of their mouths. I quickly pushed Sarna from my body and hurried over to the footlockers. Sure enough, several Sith uniforms had been abandoned there. I wasted no time in picking two that seemed about the right size, and then fleeing the scene before anyone came to.

The moment I walked in the door to our apartment, Carth was on me, "Where have you been? What have you been up to? Who did you talk to? Did anyone follow you—?" His face was dark and gloomy, and I came to the obvious conclusion that he really didn't trust me out there alone. Whatever.

"Yes, I'm fine, Carth. Thank you for caring." I said sarcastically, "But, I was actually at a party—"

"A party?! What do you think this is? Some sort of holiday? You think you can just send me off and go do whatever you want and its okay?!" His voice converted itself into 'blahs' at this point in time, and it wouldn't be the last time it did so.

"Carth, shhh! Breathe." I told him, patronizingly. "Actually, I was doing as you said and keeping my mind on the business at hand. The business at hand just happened to be linked to this Sith party, and at the party," My voice turned cocky, and a smirk appeared on my face. "guess what were in the party bags?" I unwrapped the Sith uniforms from within my jacket where I had hidden them with a beaming smile. "Sith suits! Yay!" I cheered.

Carth meanwhile, shook his head. Calming down and even managing a disbelieving smile my way. "Unbelievable." He murmured as I did my happy dance.

* * *

The next day, we donned the Sith suits, and made our way to the elevator. Tarisians avoided us like the plague. Other Sith nodded and greeted us unenthusiastically. The only trouble we got was from a couple of still-drunk men, obviously hung over from all their partying last night.

"Whoo, hey, look at this…it's the Shith! Oh no, I'm sho shcared! Hoo hoo hoo." One of the guys slurred, a dumb grin on his face. One of the men, who were obviously a tad less drunk than him, looked at us and his face paled. He punched the first guy, glaring at him.

"Careful! Don't do nothin' sthtupid! We don't want no trouble with the Shith."

The first man seemed to think for a moment, drool running down his chin before he too paled. "Uh…yeah. You're right. So shorry Shithy. Come on fellas, let's go."

The three men turned and hurried away while I stood there, dumbfounded. Then, I couldn't take it anymore.

"I didn't even have to say anything! FEAR ME! MWAHAHAHAHA!" I crowed.

I stopped when Carth hit me on the back of my helmet. I could feel his white-hot glare through the visor. I straightened my helmet as he walked past me, growling.

"What? Did you not see that! That was just crazy! I scared the crap out of them without saying a word!"

"Yeah, that's the effect Sith have on occupied worlds."

My level of amusement should have fallen swiftly at that, but it didn't and I continued on my way, giggling evilly and entertaining myself by staring ominously at small children until they scampered off in the other direction as fast as their little legs could carry them.

* * *

The guard let us past without a second glance, waving us in. As the doors closed, I silently cheered. And then cheered out loud when the elevator began descending. Very slowly.

"So, is this a good time to ask you more questions?"

"I'm all ears, beautiful." He said, pulling his helmet off.

"Ooh, I like the sound of that." I laughed, tugging off my own helmet.

"Which?" He asked curiously. "The fact that I'm all ears, or the beautiful part?"

"The beautiful part, of course. Keep calling me that." To my answer, Carth's own smile grew and I watched as his eyes began to shimmer strangely. This could be fun.

He shrugged. "I might consider it. What are you going to call me, in exchange?"

I thought for a moment. "Hmm, how about 'Handsome thug'?"

His smile grew and he laughed. "I like the first part of that. I'm a bit more partial to 'the most handsome pilot in the galaxy.' What do you think?"

I grinned, "I'll think about it."

"Well, then, I guess 'gorgeous' will have to do until then, won't it? Kidding aside, I bet you're not about to give up on those questions of yours, huh? Are they really necessary?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes and moving to lean against the side wall of the elevator, facing Onasi. "Don't be such a child. It's just a few questions."

He mocked fear, "Oh no, how can I resist a challenge to my manly pride, huh?" He laughed, then. "Fine, you've made your point. Interrogate at will." He sighed.

I grinned evilly. "Excellent. Soon all of your secrets will be mine! Ha ha!"

"All my secrets are purely of the mundane variety, unfortunately. Nothing worth extracting, though you're welcome to try." I smiled. Then, very quickly it fell away, and I knew our playful banter was over. "Let me ask you something, first, though. I've been going through the battle aboard the Endar Spire over and over in my head since we crashed. Some things just don't add up for me. Maybe you could tell me what happened… from your perspective." His suspicious tone of voice had completely ruined the mood, now, and I sighed, knowing it would only get worse. Dumbass Cripple.

"It was like you said when we met. Bastila didn't have time to use her powers."

He looked away from me, and into the space near the wall, at nothing. "True. Bastila is as powerful as they say… she's the one who defeated Darth Revan, after all. Hmm. I guess that no Jedi ability, no matter how powerful makes up for being completely surprised or outmatched. We didn't choose that battle, anyway. It got forced on us. Hell, I'm just surprised that any of us are alive to talk about it. Come to think of it, it's more than a little surprising that you happen to be here, isn't it? Just what is your position with the Republic fleet, anyway?"

"I told you. I am – well, I was a smuggler. I was recruited –unwillingly, mind you—to the fleet for my awesome knowledge and kick-ass skills."

Carth rolled his eyes, good-naturedly, "Well, it certainly wasn't for your modesty. But isn't it odd that a smuggler, who was added to the crew at the last minute just happens to be alive?"

I frowned at him, "You'd rather I wasn't?"

He shook his head, frowning as well now, "Don't be ridiculous. You've more than proved yourself since the crash… we wouldn't have made it this far without you." He said gesturing to the elevator around us. "But still…"

My eyes narrowed at him as the silence lengthened. "Are you implying that I had something to do with the crash, Onasi?" I gritted out. Now who was being ridiculous?

"No." He said too quickly, and then, "Well… maybe. Don't get me wrong, it just seems odd that someone Bastila's party specifically requested to transfer aboard, happened to survive. Look, it's just, your presence here seems a little convenient, don't you think?"

"No." I immediately answered, but the idiot went on. While that strange anger that I didn't know I possessed grew stronger and stronger, again, appearing from seemingly nowhere. As much as I struggled, I couldn't seem to ignore it or push it away. It was taking over; clouding my mind, dropping a red veil over my eyes. My heart began to pound in my chest, and my gloves squeaked slightly as I tightened my fingers into fists.

"I'm probably wrong, and this is probably nothing. I know. But I learned a long time ago not to take things at face value, however, and I hate surprises."

I let a sharp breath out, trying to keep calm, and failing. "Look, I had nothing to do with the crash. What would I gain?"

"I expect you're right. I've got no real reason to suspect you of anything. Still… it's better to be safe than sorry right?"

My mouth dropped open and I shook my head. Where did this even come from? How does this man's mind work? "You do know we're working for the same thing, right?" I asked slowly.

"Look…it has nothing to do with you, personally. I don't trust anyone, and I have my reasons. And, no, I'm not going to discuss them. So can we just keep our mind on more important things?"

I glowered at him. "I consider the trust of the man who is watching my back and making sure I don't die, important."

"Look—"

I shook my head. " No, just stop. I can't trust someone who doesn't trust me. Remember that." I said, just as the elevator doors slid open and I stormed out putting the helmet back on my head, not looking back. What a dick.

* * *

We swiftly narrowly avoided death during a small face-off between what seemed like two gangs – swoop gangs I guessed – the Vulkars and the Beks. I looted the apartment lot closest to our position first, before moving on to Javyar's Cantina. Unfortunately, Sith weren't allowed in the Cantina whilst they were on duty so we had to go around the corner and change. We hid the bulky suits behind an old crate and then entered.

Immediately, we were blinded by a flash grenade and then there were three separate blasts. When I could see again, three bodies were on the ground and people were already looting them. The man who had killed them was already leaving, looking completely calm. He was wearing goggles and a stupid looking hat. Carth and I stepped aside as he passed, not wanting any trouble. When he was gone, Carth and I looked at each other, raising our eyebrows, and then he limped off to find a table while I went to the bustling bar and yelled at the bartender for two Tarisian ales. I turned and looked around, taking in each and every suspicious face, evaluating the level of threat. My focus zoned in on a small blue form across the way, I watched the small female twi'lek as she walked, and then I stood, completely alert as two Rodians stepped in her way. I moved away from the bar, closer to the group, my hand on the hilt of my vibroblade, ready.

"Ugh, I told you to leave me alone – so give me some space, Bug-eye! Your breath smells like bantha poodoo!"

"Little girl should not be in bar. This no place for little girl. If little girl smart, she run away home now."

"Who you calling a little girl, Chuba-face?" The twi'lek shot back. She had a good attitude on her, I'd give her that.

The Rodian took a step toward her, half drawing his blaster. "Little girl needs a lesson in manners!"

I was close enough now to be confident that if anything happened, I would be in there in a moment. The Rodians would be dead in less than 3 seconds if my vibroblade didn't get caught in their tough skin or on their clothes, and even if that situation did occur, it would only put off their deaths by a second and a half. But it turns out, the kid had her own protection.

"Just a sec, boys. Zaalbar… a little help here? I need you to rip the legs off some insects."

I couldn't see who the kid was talking to, but the Rodians stiffened, then a moment later, I knew why. A loud growling voice rose above the chatter of the other humans and aliens in the Cantina. "Mission – I'm busy. They just bought my food!"

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, quit complaining…you can finish eating later. Besides, you need the exercise so get over here."

I heard a loud growl, and then a chair scraping back. Then, the most magnificent Wookiee I had ever seen came lumbering over, a bored, slightly irritated look on his furry face. Immediately, I evaluated the strength and speed a Wookiee of his size and shape would possess. I let out a breath, realizing that if it ever came to a fight between us, there was no way I would come out on top. I shook my head as I took him in, wondering what he was doing here. It was clear that he was no common Wookiee; the way he held himself and the look in his eyes as he focused on the two trembling Rodians… he was important. Incredible.

"We— we no want trouble with Wookiee. Our problem with you, little girl!"

The Mission kid smirked victoriously. "You got a problem with me, then you got a problem with Big Z. So unless you want to take on my furry friend, I suggest you greenies hop on out of here."

The Rodians all but sprinted away. "Little girl lucky she has big friend!" They ran off.

I stepped toward them. "Very lucky." I commented.

Mission turned to me, her eyes narrowing in suspicion and blinking furiously in surprise as I seemingly appeared from nowhere. She crossed her arms. "You think I can't handle myself, lady?"

I laughed, intrigued, "Oh, I have no doubt you can. I'm just extremely curious as to how a Wookiee such as yourself," I said to Zaalbar, "and a young Twi'lek wound up as best friends."

Instead of answering my question she looked me up and down. "Say, I don't recognize you and I know pretty much everyone in the Lower City. I'm Mission Vao, this is Zaalbar. Who are you?"

"Valery Mason." I offered her a hand, and she shook it, seemingly appreciating how I treated her as an equal. I thought she would. "And you didn't answer my question."

Mission shrugged. "I dunno, we just kind of fell in together. It ain't easy on your own here in the Lower City, especially these days – everyone's always looking to push you around."

I nodded, understanding. "I noticed. Still, you seem like an odd pair."

When I met up with Zaalbar it seemed like a good match. I knew we could look out for each other. With my street smarts and his muscle, we make a great team.

"I don't doubt it. Well, me and my friend are new around here and I was just wondering if, on account of your street smarts, you could fill in a few blanks."

Mission looked at Zaalbar for a moment and then turned back to me, smiling widely. "Sure! You've come to the right person! If you want the info on Lower Taris I'm the one to talk to! Davik, the Lower City gangs... I've even got the scoop on that bounty hunter Calo Nord! And I guess that also makes me and Big Z your official welcoming committee!"

I smiled back at her. "I guess it does. Just wait while I get my drinks." I led Mission and Zaalbar –who was bringing his massive plate of food with him—over to where Carth sat, looking aggravated. When he saw me walking over with a Twi'lek and a Wookiee, his face darkened and his features plainly asked; Now what? I merely smiled innocently at him. I placed our glasses down on the table and then straightened up, turning toward Mission and Zaalbar.

"Mission, Zaalbar, this is my friend Carth Onasi. Carth, this is Mission and Zaalbar. They are going to help us on our quest."

I saw, rather than heard Carth sigh., "Great." Was the almost inaudible mumble.

I turned and smiled at Mission as I slid into the booth across from Carth. "Sorry about him. He's just a grumpy old man who needs to re-learn his manners." I gave him a pointed look and kicked him viciously in the shin.

He glared at me as Mission slid in beside me and Zaalbar squished in next to Carth, taking up almost all the room. He turned his focus then to Mission, clearly struggling to soften his glare and force out a polite smile. "Pleased to meet you, Mission." He turned his head to the Wookiee. "Zaalbar." He ground out, then he turned back to me. There, happy? His face asked. I shook my head and sighed.

"So, anyway, Mission. Tell me about Calo Nord. He was that google-wearing midget who blasted those three earlier, right?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "Right! Calo Nord's one of the most famous bounty hunters in the galaxy. He's killed more people than the Iridian Plague! I've seen him kill people just for trying to talk to him! Which is, I guess, what you saw before. Those Black Vulkars are such idiots. Anyway, Calo hangs around Zax's bounty office, but I don't think he's looking for work there. All the postings there are small time – way beneath a bounty hunter of his caliber. I figure Calo's been hired by Davik to do a special job for the Exchange. I'd wager a thousand credits that as soon as the quarantine ends, he'll be off this rock."

I looked over to Carth once she had finished, rising my eyebrows. He had leant forward, looking impressed. "I have to admit it, kid – you know your stuff. What can you tell us about Davik?"

Once the kid started, she didn't stop, "Davik Kang is part of the intergalactic crime syndicate, but I guess everyone knows that. But I hear he's got a new ship for his smuggling operations – the Ebon Hawk. I don't know much about space travel, but I hear that ship's fast enough to break the Sith blockade. Of course, this is all just second hand rumour."

I shook my head. "Every bit of info counts."

"Where would he keep his ship? Do you know?"

"Well, if Davik does have a ship, he's got it locked up in his estate. Nobody gets in there, except the people working for him and the Exchange. Why? What are you trying to do? Because if you're trying to get off Taris, there's no way. The Sith will blast you to pieces if you try to leave!"

"Don't worry about it, Mission." I smiled.

"So you are trying to get off Taris!"

"Not yet. But we're getting up to it. What about the Lower City gangs?"

"There's only two gangs worth worrying about down here: the Black Vulkars and the Hidden Beks. Sometimes Zaalbar and I hang out at the Bek's base. The Beks are led by Gadon Thek – he's a good guy. Lost his sight in a swoop bike accident a few years ago, but even blind he's a great leader. Not like that traitor Brejik!" Mission surprised me by slamming a fist on the table. Zaalbar looked up at her and let out a cry of mutual anger. "Before he took over the Vulkars he was a Hidden Bek. Gadon considered that ungrateful space slug his adopted son."

"Why did Brejik leave the Beks?" Carth asked.

"When Gadon went blind everyone figured he'd step down and appoint Brejik in his place. But Gadon figured Brejik wasn't ready yet. He wanted him to wait a few years. But Brejik was too impatient. He left to join the Vulkars, and ever since he's been waging a war to wipe Gadon and his Beks from the face of Taris!

"This gang war is totally the Vulkar's fault. They're the ones killing everything that moves out on the street. It's like they've gone totally insane! Me and Zaalbar can get by them easy, though. Came close a few times though. Maybe if Big Z didn't eat so much he'd be able to move faster, but, whadda ya gonna do?"

For a long moment we sat there in silence as I committed everything she said to memory, and then I smiled widely at her. "Thank you so much, Mission. You've been a huge help."

We both stood and shook hands. Then Carth, surprising me, did the same. "Hey, anytime!" She slid out of the booth just as Zaalbar finished his meal. "Hey, you guys be careful alright? You shouldn't mess with Davik – he's got people everywhere. Really bad, mean people who aren't scared of hurtin' a pretty lady like you."

"What? You think I can't handle myself, kid?" I asked with a smirk.

Mission grinned back, and laughed. "I don't doubt it. Come on Big Z, this dive is pretty boring. Hey, hope I see ya around!"

"Bye Mission." I laughed, and then turned to Zaalbar, lowering my head slightly. "Zaalbar, it was a pleasure." The Wookiee looked at me for a moment and then grumbled in farewell and then they left. I turned to Carth, sitting back down and put my hands behind my head, feeling pretty dang proud of myself and also glad to have found someone I actually like. "You were pretty rude, Carth. You usually take out your angsty feelings on me, not some random kid. What's up with you today?"

"What? Nothing's wrong. I guess I'm just feeling a bit… in the way, that's all." He was staring down into his half-empty glass, looking all self-pitiful.

I frowned, leaning forward, moving my arms to lean on the table. "What do you mean 'in the way'?"

He sighed. "It just seems like whenever I'm with you, we get nothing done, and then as soon as you're on your own, information and opportunities come flying at you. I'm just feeling like I'm almost, I dunno… sabotaging the mission."

I scoffed, leaning back and rolling my eyes. "Carth, you're not sabotaging the mission."

"But—"

I interrupted him. "Onasi think about it. Do you think I'd even be here if it weren't for you and your nagging? The moment I woke up after you had just finished saving my life I was set to get the hell out of here. I was just gonna start wandering around Taris with no plan and no backup. If you hadn't talked me out of it then I'd probably be dead in some back alley by now." Not likely.

He stared at me, and then nodded slowly, sitting up straighter. "I guess you're right. Anyway, there's not much more we can do here. Let's finish our drinks and get going."


	4. 1-3

Conveniently, the Hidden Beks base was right across the road from Javyar's Cantina. It was worryingly easy to talk the guard at the door to let me in. The place wasn't much; a couple of people wandering about, looking lost, crates piled up in the corners and up against the walls, locked doors everywhere, water trickling out of massive cracks in the roof, broken pipes releasing possibly poisonous gases into the air...

"This place is kind of a dump." I muttered to Carth. He didn't say, but I knew he agreed. I was getting really good at reading the guy. I spotted an older man standing way on the other side of the room, behind the single piece of technology I could see. We made our way over there, ignoring the looks from the Beks. The old man looked up as we approached, his clear, white eyes focusing directly on my own. It was a bit more than creepy. I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by the mean-looking purple twi'lek to his left.

"Hold it right there!" She pretty much screamed, drawing her blaster on us both. Carth and I immediately put our hands up in surrender, wide eyed and shocked. "Who are you and what is your business with Gadon?!"

Gadon sighed angrily. "Calm down, Zaerdra. Nobody is going to try anything here in the middle of our own base. It would be a suicide mission."

"You're too trusting, Gadon! Brejik and his Vulkar scum want you dead. Anyone we don't know is a potential threat and it is my job to make sure you're safe!" She was still pointing her blaster at us. Well, mostly me, which I thought was rude.

"Do you want us to start attacking strangers on sight, Zaerdra – like the Vulkars do? I will never let it come to that! Now step aside and let them pass."

Finally, the blaster focus left my face and the woman resorted to glaring. "As you wish, Gadon." She obeyed reluctantly, and then glared at us, "You can speak to Gadon if you want, but I've got my eye on you! You try anything and you'll be vaporized before you can say 'Vulkar spy"!"

I let out a tiny sigh of relief as she backed off. And then turned to Gadon, keeping one eye on the Zaerdra chick. I noticed how Carth took one step closer to me, covering my back. I didn't like him much, but I did trust that he'd keep me alive. I felt almost safe with him back there. Which was weird.

"You'll have to forgive Zaerdra. Ever since Brejik and the Vulkars began this war against us, she's been a little over-zealous in her security duties. The problems with the Sith haven't helped things. Zaerdra seems to forget that I know how to look after myself! Now, how can I help you?"

"Well, first off I would just like to say that you have a terrible front door guard, she let me in without even a pat-down, so you might want to think about giving her a run-down on how door-guards and security measures actually work. And secondly, I need information on the Republic escape pods that crashed in the Undercity." I said in one go, not wanting to drag this out.

"The escape pods? You know, I heard the Sith have been asking around the Upper City about them as well… but you don't look like you're with the Sith."

"THEY MIGHT BE SPIES GADON! THEY MIGHT BE WORKING FOR THE SITH!"

"Calm down, Zaerdra! If the Sith thought we knew anything useful they'd have a battalion of troops kicking down our front door. No, I think this young lady has her own agenda."

I sighed, frustrated. Why couldn't people just get to the point? "Do you know anything about this or not?" I snapped, glaring warily at the trigger happy purple twi'lek.

"Well, I suppose I could tell you what I know. It's not like it could do any harm to me or my gang… but it might cause problems for the Vulkars, and that's okay in my book. The Vulkars stripped those pods clean within hours after they landed. It's too bad we didn't get there first, considering what my spies reported the Vulkars found."

Oh Force. Somehow I just knew… I just knew…

"A female Republic officer named Bastila survived the crash. We Beks don't believe in intergalactic slavery, but the Vulkars aren't so picky. They took her prisoner."

I let out the biggest groan of my life and turned to Carth, frustrated as heck.

"I thought you said she was powerful, Onasi! I could half understand the Sith ambush but some little insignificant swoop gang lead by some arrogant brat who didn't get what he wanted? This is a bit much. Are you sure this is the same Bastila who supposedly defeated Revan? _Really_, Onasi?"

I shook my head in disgust and began pacing about a meter from them, raising my arms, intertwining my fingers and resting my hands on my head as I walked, letting out a beyond frustrated groan.

"Hey, maybe she was injured during the crash and couldn't fight back!"

"I cannot _believe_ you're still trying to defend this useless woman!"

"Valery, _please_." He let out a long, sharp breath and turned to Gadon. "What will happen to her now?"

"Normally the Vulkars would take a captured slave and sell them for a nice profit to Davik or an off-world slaver. But a Republic officer is not ordinary catch."

"Hear that, Mason? They still think that Bastila is just a Republic Officer. This is good – it could work to our advantage. Maybe she'll even figure out a way to escape from the Vulkar base on her own."

I let out a harsh, doubtful laugh. "Yeah, judging by her track record? I doubt it. I really do."

"It doesn't matter, Bastila is too valuable to leave with the Vulkar scum at the base. Brejik's probably got your Republic friend hidden away somewhere safe until the big swoop race. You'll never find her."

I stopped pacing, suddenly and walked back over to the two, hands still on head. "Swoop race? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm afraid your friend has become a pawn in Brejik's game to take over the Lower City. He's offered her up as the Vulkar's share of the prize in the annual swoop gang race. By putting up such a valuable prize, Brejik hopes to win the loyalty of some of the smaller gangs. Their numbers will finally allow him to finally destroy me and my followers." The guy seemed utterly depressed, but Carth clearly couldn't see that.

"So how do you propose we go about rescusing Bastila then? We can't fight all the gangs."

"Sure we could!" I lowered my hands, nudging Carth's side encouragingly, a glory-seeking smile on my face. "Think about it Carth – you and me against the entire Lower City! We could do it! We'll probably lose a finger or two but it'd be worth it!" Carth's response was an over-dramatic eye roll.

Gadon raised an eyebrow at me, "The only_ realistic_ hope you have of rescuing your friend is to somehow win the big season opener of the swoop race."

I scoffed again and rolled my own eyes before going back to pacing, "Mate, we don't even have a swoop bike not to mention the skills needed to ride one!"

He smiled slyly, "I might be able to help you with this, if you'd be willing to help us. We both have something to gain here – and much to lose."

I stared at him in shock for a moment. He was going to help us? I glanced at Carth at the exact moment he glanced at me, and mentally I asked_, 'Why not?'_

"What are you proposing?"

"The swoop race is for the Lower City gangs only. I could sponsor you as a rider for the Hidden Beks this year. If you win the race, you'll win your friends freedom."

"That sounds too easy – what's the catch?"

He grinned at that, "First you have to do something for me. My mechanics have developed an accelerator for a swoop engine. A bike with the accelerator installed can beat any other swoop out there!"

"Let me guess." I rolled my eyes and sighed, "You don't have it anymore."

"The Vulkars stole it, I take it?"

"Yes. And they plan to use the prototype to guarantee a victory in this year's swoop race. I need you to break into their base and steal it back."

"Uh-huh… and just exactly how are we supposed to get in there? Knock?"

"It won't be easy – the front doors are locked tight and last time I checked they weren't accepting visitors. But I know someone who just might be able to sneak you in the back way – Mission Vao."

"The kid?" Carth and I looked at each other. Well, at least I'd get to see my favourite person on the planet again.

"Mission? Gadon you can't be serious! She's just a kid – how is she supposed to help them with this?" Zaerdra protested.

"Mission's explored every step of every back alley in the Lower City. Plus she knows the Undercity sewers better than anyone. If anyone can get inside the Vulkar base, it's her."

"We met Mission earlier. She seems like a good kid, and she's got that Wookiee to protect her. Where could we find her now?"

"Well, your best bet is to look for her in the Undercity. But you'll need some way past the Sith guard post at the elevator."

"We got past the Upper City guard no problem."

Gadon shook his head, "A simple disguise might have worked on the Upper City guard, but the security down here is might tougher. You'll need proper papers to get past him. Luckily, my gang ambushed one of the Sith patrols headed down to the Undercity. They never made it and their security papers fell into my hands. Since we're working together now I suppose I could give them to you… in exchange for the Sith uniforms you used to get down here. With the security papers you won't need a disguise anyway."

I frowned unwillingly, "I don't get it – what could you possibly want with Sith uniforms?"

"Let's just say I like to be prepared. Eventually the Sith are going to try to drive us out of the Undercity Sith disguises might give my people the edge we need in a crucial battle!"

I seriously doubted it, but if this guy was telling the truth, we needed those papers. I looked to Carth and put on my sweetest voice, "Carth? Could you please go get the uniforms… _please_?" At his look I turned on the puppy-dog eyes.

"_Pleeeeease_?" After a long moment he sighed in defeat, knowing I wouldn't give up on this.

"I'll be right back." Reluctantly, he left, still limping.

"You've got that boy tight on your leash alright." Gadon's voice surprised me just as much as his words confused me.

I blinked at him, "What?"

"You heard me. A little while longer and he'll be on his knee." He boomed with laughter.

I stood there staring at the blind man in horror and disgust. Where the hell did he pull that from? I didn't even like the cripple and he certainly didn't like me. It took almost five standard minutes for Carth to return and when he did, I found myself staring at him, studying him. And for the first time I noticed that Carth was actually not that bad looking. For a crippled old man.

As I stared, Carth handed over the uniforms. "There. The uniforms for the papers."

"Good choice. Thanks for the uniforms. You won't need them with these security papers anyway. Now, is there anything else I can do for you two?"

At my continual silence, Carth spoke up. "No, thank you Gadon. We'll be back with the prototype accelerator."

"Yes, well, I suggest you hurry. The swoop race is in two days time, and we want you to have time to practice before the race".

"See you soon." We left, and Carth immediately turned to me. "Are you alright? What happened while I was away? Did he hurt you?"

I blinked at him, "What? No, of course not. He just… said something that made me think."

Carth stepped closer, standing at his usual distance from me when we spoke, but this time I noticed the lack of nothingness between our two bodies. My blood began to rush around my body and my face heated up in a blush. What the hell is going on?!

"What did he say?"

Oh Force, was he doing this on purpose? Even his voice suddenly sounded different now – deep and husky and strong. I found myself tongue-tied and able to focus on nothing else but those two strands of hair that insisted on sticking out over his forehead.

"Mason? Are you alright?"

He leant down, trying to meet my eyes. The motion brought his face closer to mine however and his warm breath blew into my face. Not the nicest smelling breath I ever did smell, but certainly the first to make my body react in such a way. I stepped back without a word, turned my back on him and started walking toward the elevator. Damn that blind old man. And that was the first time I felt something more than reluctant acknowledgement toward Carth Onasi.

* * *

Seriously, it seemed at every corner something was going on. A solo arrogant-looking man stood there, facing off with two Black Vulkars. Carth and I ducked into the nearest alley and leant around the corner, watching. My entire body seemed to be burning as I became increasingly aware of Carth so close behind me. He leant around me to see, his head almost next to mine, his breath in my ear. Bastard. He had to be doing this on purpose.

I slipped away from under him and ignored his weird look as I fought for control with these new emotions. I moved away from Carth, positioning myself so that I was behind him but nowhere near him

"You guys are behind with your payments. What do you uh, you think just 'cause you're in some gang you don't have to give Davik his cut?" This man must be an agent of Davik's. Surely he didn't come here alone?

The Black Vulkars seemed completely at ease with the situation. "I don't see Davik doing anything for his share. We do all the work. Davik claims he's part of the Exchange, so let's see him prove it."

"Yeah," Said his buddy. "Let's see the big crime lord come and get his money from the Black Vulkars!"

The agent laughed. "Ah, so you want to play this the hard way? Haha." He let out a sharp, high whistle. And a massive man sauntered out of the shadows, wielding a giant blaster that was probably as heavy as I was.

"Mandalorian." I whispered to Carth, who nodded, we both stiffened significantly.

"Oh, hey….Canderous. We didn't know you was working for Davik now."

"Yeah, we were just goofin' around here. We don't want no trouble with a Mandalorian. Here's Davik's cut." Both of the Vulkars dug around in their pockets for their credits, quickly counted it up and then one of then stepped forward and placed them into the Agent's waiting hand.

"I knew you boys would see reason. Now get out of here." He ordered.

Canderous the Mandalorian sighed. "Too bad. I was looking forward to cracking some heads."

The Agent clearly didn't care. "Maybe next time, Canderous. I better get this over to Davik. I'll call you if anyone else gets behind on their payments." And then the Agent left, whistling.

Carth and I emerged from the alley and slowly made our way over to the Mandalorian who was standing there, gazing down at his blaster and stroking it absent-mindedly. "What's a Mandalorian doing acting as a lap-dog for a crime lord?" Carth spun around at stared at me in a shocked horror. I ignored him, which was difficult seeing how intense his brown eyes were.

The Mandalorian's eyes narrowed at me, he stood up taller and readjusted his grip on his blaster. "Davik pays well, what's it to you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "So you're nothing but a mercenary?"

His eyes ignited and he puffed out his chest. "I am Canderous of the clan Ordo." He snarled.

I did not even flinch as I stared up at him and scoffed. "You are nothing but a common thug." I said, shaking my head in disappointment. I brushed past him and continued toward the Undercity elevator. I stopped as I head the click of a safety. I turned just my head to look over my shoulder at the fuming Mandalorian who had his blaster pointed right at my head. That was the second time today, I thought.

"I've heard stories about your people, you know. Wondrous, terrible stories. Now go ahead. Shoot me with my back turned. Show me how far the Mandalorians have fallen."

By the Force this was the most stupid thing I had ever done. I was counting my life on the honour of a fallen race. It seemed like forever before he lowered his blaster. Without a word, he left. And once he was gone, Carth was yelling, _again_.

"What the frack were you thinking?! He was going to shoot you and you _still_ provoked him! How dimwitted are you?"

"Ah! There's the insulting again, but this time, _I_ am in the right. That Mandalorian will beat himself up about this until he can barely think about anything else other the hate of what he has become. Once we finally save Bastila we're going to need someone in Davik's crew to help us get to that ship – the Ebon Hawk. And I've just chosen Canderous of Ordo to be that someone."

Carth stopped, thought for a moment, and then his face broke out in an amazed smile. "How is it that you can be such a mix of genius and fool?"

"_Again_ with the insults? Can't we just get along without all of the insults and the fights?" I smiled jokingly.

"What are you talking about? I'm not fighting, are you fighting? 'Cause I'm not fighting…"

I shook my head, continuing toward the elevator. "Right." I showed the guards the papers and hopped in the elevator, ignoring the fact that Carth was staring at me, thinking I didn't notice. But I did. Oh, I did.

* * *

The first thing I noticed about the Undercity was the smell. It was eye-wateringly, gag-worthily horrific. After we got shaken down by some dirty bastards and finally escaped from the know-nothing Shaleena who asked far too many questions for her own good, we went to Gendar, the 'leader' of the people of the Undercity. He smelled just as bad as the rest of them He was a good man though. He told me of the many people who had been travelling through the Undercity recently, and gave us some more information concerning the Rakghouls that had been plaguing his village. He also told me that he had seen Mission and Zaalbar passing through a short while ago. I thanked him and we made our way to the gate, carefully avoiding a rather creepy looking man standing on the corner wearing a cruel sneer on his face.

"Hurry, Hendar, hurry! I can hear it coming!"

"He'll never make it. He's doomed. I told him he was a fool to leave the village."

"He WILL make it! Run, Hendar, run!" The woman was screaming, tears running down her face, at the man by the gate, who was looking pale and shaky. A young man appeared on the other side of the gate, red faced and terrified.

"Open the gate! Quickly! Please!"

"Ugh… I… I can't… the Rakghouls are too close." He shook his head.

I frowned, looking through the gate and at the white blob that I took to be the Rakghoul that was still almost 10 meters away. "What are you talking about?" I grumbled, walking up and pushing the stupid gate man aside. "Move."

I slammed my hand on the button, ignoring the stupid man's protests and glanced at Carth who had already drawn his blasters and had them trained readily on the approaching threat.

"Get the hell in here!"I shouted to Hendar as he quickly ran inside the gate and into the woman's waiting arms. I slammed my hand on the button again and the gate fell to a close barely a moment before the rakghoul's pale form slammed into it. It backed away with a loud, furious snarl and then ran at the gate again. The loud bang and clatter the gate made when the creature slammed into it caused the woman, who was sobbing hysterically now, clutching onto the man's dirty shirt like he was her life-line, to scream in terror. The scream broke into sobs, and then escalated again when the creature rammed into the gate once more. I had moved to stand next to Carth, who still had his blasters trained on the thing, my hand was on my vibroblade. Quite frankly, I was terrified. The Rakghoul had the nastiest, most hate-filled, most human look on it's seemingly eyeless face as it glared at us through the reinforced wire and bars of the rusty metal gate. It's almost transparent skin rippled with muscles and its claws dug so deeply into the hard, dusty ground that I found myself fearing what would happen if those claws tried to dig into my shoulder or stomach.

With a final, defeated snarl, the Rakghoul backed away; still glaring and then it turned and disappeared into the darkness. The only sound then was the woman's hysterical sobs and her boyfriend or brother or whoever he was shushing her gently and whispering that everything was going to be alright. There was a ringing in my ears and my breathing was ragged. I gulped and then looked up at Carth who was slowly holstering his blasters, his narrowed eyes still focused completely on the darkness. When I spoke, my voice was shaky and clearly gave away my fright.

"And we have to go in there?"

"I cannot believe you just did that." Came a voice from behind me, shaking with emotion. I turned and came face-to-face with a furious brown haired man. "Who do you think you are, up-worlder!? You put every single life in this village at risk!"

I took a deep breath in, trying to rein in my emotions. "I am the one who just saved that man's life."

"At the risk of everyone else's?!"

"Please, I had everything under control. Did anyone get hurt? No. Did anyone die? No thanks to you, no. Did the Rakghoul get in? No. There was plenty of time to save that man's life and if you hadn't been so busy being a coward you would have seen that. The Rakghoul was miles away."

"There was still too much of a risk!"

"Yeah, well, it's done now isn't it? Now, if you'll excuse me I had to go make sure those two are alright, since you really don't seem to care."

I wandered over to the couple to find that the woman was still crying, but her sobbing had been halted by the man's lips over her own. "Alright, I guess he's her boyfriend then." I murmured, looking away and waiting for them to finish. "Are you alright?" I asked when it was over.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks to you. I really just can't thank you enough, I mean; I thought I was a gonner. If I had anything to give you I would. But I have nothing. Nothing except my dear Hester."

"And I have you Hendar. That's all I need. Let's go home. Thank you, up-worlder. Thank you so much." She broke off crying again and Hendar led her away, holding her close. I saluted to their backs, feeling strangely content about my good deed and yet at the same time like it was a complete waste of time on my part. I didn't even get a thank you handout…

"Open the gate." I commanded the stupid man. He complied and Carth and I strolled through, hands on our weapons and glancing about warily. The gate slammed shut behind us. We began walking, almost silently, in a north-westerly direction.

It wasn't long before Carth muttered that he heard something, and then the sound of soft padding foot falls could be heard from the darkness to our right. We turned, drawing our weapons but quickly relaxing as we recognized the voice.

"Please! You have to help me! I don't know anyone else to go to! The Beks could help me but it'd take too long and I can't just leave him there – he's my friend! Please, help me!" Mission was distraught, that much was clear. There was tears streaming down her blue cheeks and her shoulders shook with sobs. "Please, I don't know what to do!"

"Of course we'll help, Mission. What's wrong?" I resisted the sudden urge to hug her to me. I didn't like her that much.

"It- it's Zaalbar! He's in trouble – big trouble! We have to help him. If we don't they'll sell him into slavery!" She sobbed.

Well that sucks for him. I stepped closer to her and looked her in the eye. "Calm down, Mission. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened." I told her.

The young Twi'lek complied and then, once she was a tad calmer, she recounted what had happened. "Me… me and Zaalbar were just wandering around down here, you know, just looking for stuff we could find, just kind of exploring. We do it all the time."

"I guess with a Wookiee at your side you've got to figure you can handle the odd Rakghoul attack." Carth grumbled.

"Yeah, but this time they were waiting for us! Gammorean slave hunters! We didn't even have a chance to run. Big Z threw himself at them and he roared for me to run! I… I took off; I figured Zaalbar would be right behind me. But there was too many of them – he couldn't get away. They're going to sell him to a slaver – I just know it!" She covered her face with her hands and moaned. "Oh, this is all my fault! I shouldn't have left him! I'm a terrible friend."

I couldn't help it, I reached out and took her hands from her face and held them, looking her in the eyes. "No, you're not. You were scared and you ran, that doesn't make you a bad person or a bad friend. Force knows how many times _I've_ tucked tail and ran over the years. We are going to help you get Zaalbar back, alright? Aren't we Carth?"

"Of course. But if we do," He said to Mission seriously. "You have to help us get inside the Vulkar base."

"Deal." She agreed immediately. "I don't know why you'd want to go there, but sure? Why not? I just hope Zaalbar is okay…"

"I'm sure he's fine, Mission. Do you know where the Gammoreans took him?"

"They make their camps down in the sewers. I bet that's where they took him! I'll help you get into the Vulkar base but we have to save Zaalbar before they sell him to the slavers – or worse!" She moaned, terrified.

I smiled, trying for comforting, and squeezed her hands, "Alright. Let's go save your friend."


	5. 1-4

We were stopped a few moments later by a tirade of running footsteps. We stopped as three terrified looking men and a familiar Mandalorian came into view.

One of the men pointed his blaster at us. "Don't… don't move! I'm… I'm not afraid to use this blaster if I have to!"

I watched, bemused as Canderous of Ordo walked over to the man and forced him to back down. Putting one huge hand on the blaster and forcing it to point at the ground. "Settle down, kid. We've already lost enough men to those damn Rakghouls! The last thing we need now is more casualties from a needless fire fight." He looked over and glared straight at me. "Even though I'd love to put a bolt through your head."

I smiled cockily at him. "Canderous, my man! How's it been?" I tilted my head to the side and my smile turned sweet. "I've been thinking about you."

The Mandalorian raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak but one of his men started yelling.

"Canderous! I heard something over there! In the shadows! Oh, hell it's a Rakghoul!"

Canderous ripped his eyes from me and swung his heavy blaster around, his muscles not even straining under the weight. "Looks like we've got company! Get out of here, girl!"

I laughed, but went to stand nearer to Carth and his great aiming skills. "Yeah, right."

The Rakghouls were dead in under a minute, but so were two of the three men.

Canderous cursed in Mandalorian. "I told Davik this salvage mission was a bad idea! His men aren't trained for this kind of thing and I can't babysit them all… As for you," He looked toward my group. "by the looks of you all I'd say you're here to salvage something from those downed escape pods. A word of advice: forget about it. Do yourselves a favor and just head back the way you came. The swoop gangs have already cleaned anything worth taking out, and I've already lost half a dozen men to those damn Rakghouls."

I smiled sweetly at him again. "Don't worry, we can handle ourselves."

He laughed darkly. "Judging by the way you were hiding behind your boyfriend, I highly doubt it."

My amusement vanished and I stepped forward, hand on my vibroblade. "I don't a man to protect me, Mandalorian."

He smirked at me, only causing my glower to darken. "Maybe not, but he seems all too willing."

I felt the blush rising to my cheeks. "You don't know what you're talking about." I said, raising my chin. "Well, I'll just leave you two to run back to the surface with your tail between your legs like big, old cowards."

His own smile vanished and his grip on his blaster tightened. "Normally I'd make you regret those words, but I'm not wasting another minute down here. I'm responsible for this whole company," I looked at the one surviving man, "and they –_he _won't survive down here much longer. Come on boy… let's move out!" He stomped past me, not looking my way and vanished into the darkness.

I shook my head in wonder as Mission and Carth let out huge sighs.

"He's going to kill you one day." Carth commented.

I shot him a sarcastic smile and then gestured for Mission to lead the way.

* * *

Mission led us straight to the sewer entrance, and I did my best to ignore Carth's urging look to go check out the crash site of one of the escape pods. I tried not to gag as we entered the sewers and I heard Carth cough a few times. We looked at each other and cringed in disgust. Well, what were we expecting? It was the sewers. Mission seemed completely used to the smell. The first door to the sewers slid open with a loud, grinding, screeching noise and I stepped back. Five pale creatures lifted their heads at the sound. Their eyes glittering at the prospect of a meal better than the one they were receiving from the skeleton in the corner.

"Rakghouls!" I gasped, frozen. The creatures snarled and as one, sprinted toward us. Two blasts were heard from my left and three to my right. The next thing I knew, the Rakghouls were dead, each with a single black hole in their foreheads. I looked to my right, at Carth, and then to my left, at Mission. Both were already holstering their blasters, looking very serious. I let out a short laugh of relief.

"Thank the Force that you two are here." I said shakily.

Carth looked at me strangely, and Mission tilted her head, the blue skin around her eyes rimmed with red. "Are you scared of them?" She asked me, curiously.

"Terrified."

"Why?" Carth asked.

"Honestly? I don't like creatures that roam around in the dark. Not one bit."

* * *

We began our search through the sewers and other than the occasional 'yuck!' or 'this way's blocked', there was no conversation. I got sick of it after the first hour.

"So, Mission." She looked at me, startled as I dropped back to walk next to her. I smiled, "Tell us a little about yourself."

The girl looked shocked, "R-really? You wanna know about me? Nobody's ever really been interested in me before." She said almost dreamily, then a wall seemed to drop back into place and her tough girl façade reappeared. Her tone of voice deepened, matured and she seemed calm, collected and serious, "What did you want to know?"

I decided to start with a simple, non-too-personal question, "How did you and Zaalbar hook up?"

Immediately, I saw the excitement of the kid she was pop back up, and then quickly be smothered by her forced maturity. "Well, Big Z's my family, you know? My parents… well, I guess they're dead. It was just me on my own until the day I saw Zaalbar in the Lower City. I could tell right away he was in trouble. This was before the gang wars were out of hand, but even then the Vulkars were scum. A few of them were hassling Big Z, trying to pick a fight – but he wasn't looking for trouble."

I let out a sound of disbelief. "Who would be dumb enough to pick a fight with a Wookiee?"

She laughed. "Hey, nobody said the Vulkars was smart. But there were three of them, so maybe they figured they could handle him. I don't know." She shrugged as we walked. From the corner of my eye I could see Carth listening in as well. What else was he gonna do?

"Anyway, I don't like Vulkars at the best of times. And when I saw them picking on this poor Wookiee – all alone on a strange planet, overwhelmed by the big city – I just lost it. I screamed out something like, 'Leave him alone, you core-slimes!' and charged right at 'em. One of them saw me coming and slapped me so hard he just about knocked me cold."

"Ouch." I winced.

Mission nodded. "Yeah. Well, those Vulkars didn't scare me. They're nothing but cowards. I knew how to deal with them, Of course, I never got the chance. I guess Zaalbar didn't like seeing me get smacked around. He let out this howl and yanked that Vulkar a meter off the ground and held him there by his throat."

I laughed, impressed. "And the other two?"

Mission grinned, "They screamed and ran off. Can't say I blame them. The first time you see and angry Wookiee up close it isn't a pretty sight. I thought Zaalbar was going to rip that punk's arms off and beat him to death with his own fists. The Vulkar was so scared he fainted. Or maybe Big Z's breath just knocked him out."

She shook her head, no trace of the wanna-be-mature Mission to be seen. "I keep telling Zaalbar to brush those choppers of his, but he never listens. Just stay upwind when he's speaking and you'll be fine." She smiled at me.

"Anyway, I knew those Vulkars would be back with friends, so I grabbed Zaalbar and we took off. Ever since then we've been a team. We look out for each other, you know?"

I nodded, glancing at Carth. "Ahh… So how did Zaalbar end up on Taris anyway?" I asked carefully.

Mission shrugged. "Oh, he was fleeing some kinda trouble back on Kashyyyk. That's all I know, really. Big Z doesn't like to talk about it. He's the strong, silent type of guy. Doesn't matter much to me, though. I accept him for what he is, not what he was. Me and Zaalbar like to live in the present."

"Did you have anyone you hung out with before Zaalbar, or…?"

Immediately, Mission's smile fell away and she dropped her gaze. "Um… I, uh…"

"Don't wanna talk about it? It's fine. We'll just focus on finding Zaalbar." I quickly said.

Mission nodded. "Yeah, thanks. Like I used to tell my brother, fast talk and slick words don't get the job done."

I looked at her, "You have a brother?"

Immediately, the mature-as-thou wall popped up, and she glared at me, snapping, "Griff's a touchy subject and it just so happens that I don't really feel like talking about him right now. Nothing personal. Let's just find Zaalbar, okay?"

I raised my eyebrows at that, offended, "Well sor-_ry_ for asking." I mumbled, speeding up to walk up front. I heard Mission sigh.

* * *

I found myself almost permanently stuck to Carth's hip as we battled group after group of pale bodied Rakghouls and he didn't seem to mind. Gammoreans, droids and dead bodies, I could handle, but those things were just horrific. Eventually we came across a very broken door and through the cracks, we could just manage to make out a lump of fur lying in the corner of the conjoining room.

"I bet that's Zaalbar. We're close."

A room full of Rakghouls and a footlocker containing Zaalbar's most impressive Bowcaster later, we fought our way through the Gammorean slavers and stood in front of the door we were certain Zaalbar was behind.

"Hmm… look at this. This is one of those old style manual locks. No computer codes or nothing. The sewers is the only place on Taris you'll see one of these. You can't use conventional security spikes on these old locks, but I've come across them before. I've rigged up a little device that should do the trick." She said this as she was attaching said device to the door. After a moment, it flew open and Mission stepped inside. I watched again in interest as the mature-as-thou act disappeared again as she ran to the lump of fur slumped against the wall that was Zaalbar. He was in pretty bad shape – his fur was mattered in blood and I could see several patches of fur that had been ripped almost out. I turned to Carth who was already digging about in his pack for the Kolto.

"Hey, hey Big Z. You okay? You're okay, you gotta be. Hey, wake up!" Mission said, her voice shaky.

After a long moment I breathed a sigh of relief as the Wookiee let out a low growl of pain and shifted where he sat before slowly opening his eyes. They settled on Mission. "You're a sight for sore eyes, Mission." He growled.

Mission laughed joyously in relief. "I'm so glad to see you too, Big Z! You didn't think I'd forget about you – Mission and Zaalbar, together forever!" I laughed softly at that, attracting the Wookiee's attention.

"They're the humans from the Cantina. What are they doing here?" He asked Mission as he began to get up slowly.

Mission reached out and helped him up. "These are my new friends, Big Z. Carth and Valery. Without them I never could have got you out."

I nodded to Zaalbar. "It was our pleasure to help. It's good to see you again, Zaalbar." Beside me, Carth nodded silently, Kolto in hand.

Zaalbar made a grumbling sound, "You know the language of my people? That is rare among your species; I am impressed. You have saved me from a life of servitude and slavery. There is only one way I can ever repay such an act: I will swear a lifedebt to you."

Mission started, "A lifedebt? Are you sure about that, Big Z? Think about this carefully. You gotta be sure."

Zaalbar grumbled again, "I am sure, Mission. This is an issue of great importance to me. Because of our great physical strength, Wookiees are being used as slave labor on our own homeworld."

"Far out…" I whispered, eyes wide, but frowning, "That's terrible." Carth leaned in and asked me what the heck the Wookiee was saying. I told him to shut up and I'll tell him later.

"They see us as brutes and animals to be exploited. Over the years slavers have taken many of my people; we must always be on guard against raids against our villages. When the Gammoreans captured me, I thought I was doomed to a life of servitude. I have been saved from such a fate, and the only way I can repay that is through a lifedebt."

Mission looked to me in awe. "You know this is, right?"

"Uhh… maybe?"

"A lifedebt is the most solemn vow a Wookiee can make. It means he'll stay by your side for the rest of your life – wherever you do, whatever you do, Zaalbar will be with you."

My eyes widened even more and I looked to Carth in a 'what-the-hell-do-I-do?' kinda way. The bastard smiled at me in a way that made my heart go insane and my lower stomach turn to butter. I turned back to Zaalbar as he put one hand on his chest and say in the most solemn way.

"In the presence of you all I swear my lifedebt. Forever after I will be by your side, Valery. May my vow be as strong as the roots of the great Wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk."

I groaned under my breath, "Great…" and then louder I said, "I am honoured to accept your vow."

"Well, I guess this means you're stuck with me too. Wherever Big Z goes, I'm going. I almost lost him once – it's not going to happen again."

I smiled at her, it not quite reaching my eyes. "Awesome…" How am I supposed to ditch everyone now?

"So… I guess I still owe you one secret path into the Vulkar base. That was the deal, wasn't it? Don't worry, I know a backdoor into that scum den!"

I nodded. "Yeah, good. The sooner we get there the better."

"Yep. I better come with you – the Vulkars put up a force shield to keep the sewer dwellers out. I'm one of the only non-Vulkars on Taris who can get you past it. I can't remember exactly how to get there, but I know it was somewhere here in the sewers. Over to the northeast, if I remember right. I just hope the rancor monster isn't still there."

My mouth dropped open. "Whoa, whoa, whoa – no one said anything about a rancor!"

Mission shrugged, "Well, there used to be one there. It made its nest there and the Vulkars feed it with people that opposed them – traitors and the sort, but it can pretty much eat anything. That thing was huge! But luckily rancors aren't too bright. I was able to sneak past it before, so I'm sure we'll figure something out. That is, unless you wanna change your mind."

Carth and I shook our heads at the same time. "Yeah, that's not really an option. Before we go though; does Zaalbar need anything for his wounds?" I asked, gesturing to Carth who offered the Kolto packs. Mission nodded, took them and then started fussing over the Wookiee, stabbing him here and there and trying to place patches on his fur-covered skin.

"Mission!" He growled softly.

"Almost done, Big Z. Jeez, stop your whining! Aaannnnd… there!" She stepped back and looked him over then turned to us. "Alright, follow me."

* * *

It was incredibly easy to find the big, purple, shimmering, humming force field. I looked at the control panel skeptically, seeing that it was code locked. I could break it but it would take a while, and I was really getting sick of the Rakghouls and the Gammoreans and the god-awful stench of the sewers. Luckily, Mission was prepared.

"You won't be able to get that computer to lower the energy field without the proper codes. Lucky for us, I got them. I picked them off the pocket of a Black Vulkar who had a little too much to drink in the Cantina one night. There. Come on. I know the way."

I was a bit more than a little curious as to how this many Rakghouls and Gammoreans knew the codes to bypass the force field, but I didn't comment. I shivered disgustedly as I walked through a shower of stale water. At least, that's what I hoped it was.

"I am going to have the longest shower of my life after this." Carth grimaced. Immediately, my disgusting mind imagined him in the shower and my lower stomach turned to butter once more. I shivered again, this time for an entirely different reason.

A little while later, Mission piped up. "Hey, Carth. You're a pilot for the Republic, right? You've been all over the galaxy I bet, right? So tell me, how would you rate Taris compared to other worlds you've seen?" She asked, mature-as-thou. I listened in, curious as to what he would say.

"I'll be honest, Mission, Taris would rate pretty low. The prejudice, the rich spoiling themselves while the poor are crushed beneath them – not a pretty picture."

"Yeah, but that's only since the Sith occupation. Before that… well, I guess it wasn't all that different, really. Hmm… maybe Taris ain't as great as I though, you know?"

"Trust me, Mission. There are a lot of worlds better than Taris. There are worse, too. But Taris is no place for a kid to live on her own - even a kid who's got a Wookiee to look out for her."

I mentally face-palmed. He was such an idiot.

Mission arched up, her young face pulling into a heavy frown and her hand moving to rest on her hip. "Hey, I ain't no kid! And I look out for Zaalbar just as much as he looks out for me. Big Z's my friend, not my babysitter! Geez, I come ask you a question and you give me a lecture!"

"Don't you snap at me, missy!" Carth snapped, "You want a lecture? How's this: only bratty little children fly off the handle because of a simple comment."

I rolled my eyes and hissed at them over my shoulder. "Settle it down will ya? Both of you."

"I don't have to listen to you, Carth! You ain't my father – though you're sure old enough to be! So keep your lectures inside your withered old head 'cause I don't need 'em!" With that she sped up to stomp angrily in front of me. I raised my eyes amusedly at her back.

"And I sure as hell don't need this!"

I stopped for a moment until I was standing next to Carth before whistling and putting a hand on his shoulder with an amused smile. "Wow. Didn't know you had it in you, Carth!"

For a moment he stared at me, and then rolled his eyes, trying to hold back a smile. "Hmph."

I laughed and ran to catch up to the still angry as heck Mission. "Don't mind him. Like I told you before - he's a grumpy old man."

She snorted. "That he is!"


	6. 1-5

We walked for ages, fighting and gagging and fighting some more, but I could feel that we were getting closer. I kept glancing at Zaalbar, at his massive fur covered body that was easily another half of me and wondered what he could possibly have been fleeing before he came here. He had told us of the slavers, but he wouldn't abandon his home world just because he was scared would he? I doubted it. Perhaps he would tell us someday, but I thought it would be more polite to not ask – if he hadn't told Mission, then there was no way he'd want to tell me.

As we walked, Mission began commenting on Zaalbar's breath, but she trailed off as her eyes settled on the severed arm at mine and Carth's feet. I gave him a look and then turned to look at the door while he bent down and took whatever it was that the pale, decomposing fingers still held. I motioned for them all to stay where they were before taking a deep breath and opening the door. I saw nothing. I walked into the room, skeptical and looked around.

"There's no rancor in..." I trailed off and my eyes widened in terrified awe. As I laid my eyes on the rancor for the first time, all the air rushed out and I swore under my breath. Quickly, I turned and all but ran back through the door closing it behind me. I turned to the others and brushed my hair back from my face, feeling a bit pale.

"God, you weren't kidding. That thing is huge." I said shakily to Mission.

Carth looked up at us, a frown etched upon his face. "This guy was a Hidden Bek. It looks like he was planning to sneak into the Vulkar's base. They knew how to get past the rancor."

We watched as his eyes traveled swiftly across the screen and then his eyebrows raised a fraction. "Listen to this: 'We have synthesized a substance with an odor that resembles a favourite prey of rancors. If we place the bait properly, we can lure the rancor into eating something lethal enough to kill it.'"

He looked up at us, "Got anything lethal enough to kill a rancor?"

We all dug around in our pockets, well, obviously all of us besides Zaalbar who had nothing on him but his bowcaster, blood and smears of Kolto, and after a moment Carth and Mission shook their heads, looking to me. I brought out two round grenades and held them toward Carth.

"This lethal enough for you?"

He smirked at me, and it was unintentionally sexy enough that I found it hard to meet his eye. Bastard. Where the hell is all this coming from? I need more sleep…He took the grenades and then picked up three little glass vials with what looked like timed release devices for lids. The dark liquid sloshed thickly around inside. "Perfect. Now, how are we going to get the thing to eat them?"

I walked back over to the door and after a moment's hesitation, opened it. The rancor hadn't moved from the corner I had seen it in last. I let my eyes travel around the rest of the room, and then settled on a large pile of what looked like half-eaten corpses next to the far wall. I swallowed thickly, disgusted and then silently motioned for Carth to come forward. He did so, cautiously. I held out my hands and gestured to the grenade and vials, he handed them over without hesitation, but as I reached down to activate my stealth field generator I saw his eyes widen and then narrow as he realized what I was planning.

"Valery, no. It's too dangerous!" He hissed angrily.

I grinned cockily at him as I began to disappear before his eyes. "Come on, Onasi. It's just a rancor. What's the worst that can happen?" I chuckled, knowing that I had most probably jinxed myself and that something was going to go completely wrong and I would die. Carth growled and quickly swiped out his hand, aiming for my arm but I danced away, narrowly avoiding him. I hurried out the door, ignoring Carth as he hissed my name, and focused on making my footsteps as light as possible.

I made sure to keep one eye on the rancor as I slinked over to the pile of decomposing dead people. I gagged and felt bile rising in my throat as I approached it. I quickly set the timer for the odour release, and then for the grenades. They would go off exactly two minutes after the odour. I picked a disemboweled Twi'lek torso and after taking two deep, sharp breaths and squeezing my eyes shut I thrust my hand into the gaping, rotting hole where the pelvis and hips should have been and pushed the grenades and two of the vials all the way to the top of the chest, making sure that they were both squished in firmly to the decomposing organs still there. The last vial, I put in the dead Twi'lek's front jacket pocket.

I must've taken too long because suddenly the vial was opening, spraying the synthesized odour of whatever it was all over the back of my hand. I cursed and coughed at the horrid smell, my eyes watering. They widened then, as I heard a series of loud sniffing noises and I looked over my shoulder to see the no-longer immobile rancor rushing toward me. I threw myself away from the pile and backed away, trying to remain silent as I watched the rancor stopping and sniffing around the pile before reaching down one overly-massive clawed hand and scooping up the Twi'lek torso. It brought it up close to its face for a moment, sniffing again loudly before devouring it in one massive bite. I shuddered at the crunching and snapping sounds that filled the room.

I silently, but swiftly began making my way back toward the others, not wanting to be anywhere near the creature when the grenades went off inside its stomach. I had about seventy seconds before that happened. The rancor chewed for a moment, making slobbering and growling sounds, and then stopped suddenly. A sharp breath of air flew in my nostrils as I froze, staring fixedly on the thing as it began to sniff wetly at the air. For a moment I frowned in confusion and then my heart clenched violently in my chest and my eyes fell to my left hand, still glistening with the synthesized odour. My mouth fell open and I turned and began to sprint as hard as I could toward the door and Carth. As I did, my stealth field generator disengaged and I heard the rancor roar behind me, shortly followed by the sound of its huge feet pounding against the ground, gaining on me far too quickly.

My eyes fixed on Carth's terrified face as he started yelling at me to run faster. Like that was possible. Mission joined in and Zaalbar let out a mighty cry.

"Back up! Get back from the doorway!" I screamed at them, knowing that there was no way the rancor would be able to stop its gigantic, heavy body before it hit the wall. I flew through the door but kept running until I reached Carth. I threw myself into his arms and they immediately enveloped me. I looked over my shoulder just as the rancor crashed into the wall with a mighty boom, the metal beneath and around us shook violently. Carth cursed and dragged me further backward. I heard Mission cry out and Zaalbar roar as a massive clawed hand and arm reached toward us through the doorway. It strained toward us, but couldn't fit anymore of its arm through.

"Thirty seconds." I whispered. The rancor roared and snarled and drooled.

"Fifteen…" Its long claws dug into the metal floor.

"Eight…" It began swinging its arm around, leaving long, deep scratch marks in the wall and roof.

"Three… Two… One…" The rancor let out a mighty roar, and then, "Boom."

The rancor monster exploded from the inside out, blood, guts, skin and meat flying everywhere. Carth spun us around and shielded me from the flying pieces with his body. I heard it as it slopped all over the place. Then came the smell. I thought the pile of corpses was bad… I slowly opened one eye and hesitantly leant to the side to look around Carth at what I had done.

"Oh, god." I groaned in disgust.

"Errrgh! Yuck! That is just so gross on so many levels! Ugh, I think I got some rancor in my lekku! And look at you, Big Z! I don't care what you say; as soon as you can you're having a bath!" Through my disgust I laughed at Mission, still clinging to Carth.

He hadn't let go of me yet. His voice was low as he spoke and it vibrated through his chest, beneath my hands. "That was so incredibly stupid." He growled. I looked up at him, becoming nervous as I saw how close our faces were and how much I loved the warmth of his hands on my waist.

"It worked, didn't it?" I smiled at him victoriously, but he didn't smile back. I stepped out of his hold and turned my attention toward Mission and Zaalbar, who were, disgustingly covered in rancor.

"You two look… ew." I commented, and then laughed. They both glared at me as I laughed, moving to step through the mush of what was left of the rancor. We all had to work together to push a large chunk of something out of the doorway so that we could pass. Then, we crossed the room; made quick work of the two Black Vulkar's guarding the elevator to their base and finally, finally made it.

* * *

"I have never felt so disgusting in all my life. There is no way the janitor will let us in the apartment looking like this. I doubt the Sith guard at the elevator to the surface will let us past, we smell so bad." I complained, walking out of the Vulkar base's front doors.

"Don't worry; I'm sure the Beks will let us wash up at their base." Mission assured me, confidently.

I snorted. "You think they'll even let us in?"

"We got the accelerator they wanted, so yeah." She fell into silence. Things had been awkward between her and Carth since the fight.

"True." I nudged her and looked pointedly at Carth. She frowned and shook her head. I raised my eyebrows. Mission sighed.

"Uh, hey Carth. Can I… can I talk to you for a second?"

He glanced back at her. He hadn't exactly been the happiest guy in the world since we—well, since I risked my life killing that rancor. "Are you ready to have a civil chat? Or is going to be another childish tantrum?"

"Tantrum? I'm trying to apologize, you nerf-herder!" She snapped and I covered my laugh with a cough. "Uh… I mean… I'm sorry." She sighed. "I didn't mean to get mad at you. It's just that I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm a helpless kid."

Carth sighed too and managed a small smile in her direction, "Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry about what I said, too. I'm just a little on edge lately. Not surprising what we've been through. But I shouldn't take it out on you."

I stood there and grinned, looking forward and back between them. I was so proud that they both had it in them to suck it up and apologize. "It's about time you made up!"

Carth glanced at me in the corner of his eye for a moment before returning to Mission. "Mission, you have to know that we don't think you're helpless. Look at where we are; look at what we're doing. You're not just along for the ride. We need you."

Mission and I had identical looks of 'awww, really?' on our faces. "You really mean that, don't you. Nobody's ever said anything like that to me before, not even Big Z." Zaalbar made a sound of protest and she glanced at him. "I mean, he might think it, but he's not really one for words, are you?" She smiled slightly and looked back to Carth, "Thanks, Carth." She said sincerely.

Carth shrugged, "Ah, it's no big deal. I know how it is. Sometimes you just need to hear a few words of encouragement. Kids are like that." He smirked and my stomach dropped. I groaned.

Mission turned on him, fire in her eyes, "Kids are like that? Listen you…" She noticed the smirk on his face and the playful sparkle in his eyes and she stopped, immediately relaxing. "Oh, I get it. Okay, you got me." She laughed humorlessly. "You're pretty funny, Carth. For a crippled old guy."

I burst into laughter, ignoring Carth's eye-roll and Missions triumphant smirk.

* * *

Gadon looked up as we approached, with me keeping a fair distance away from the glaring Zaerdra.

"You have returned. Do you have the prototype swoop engine accelerator with you?"

I shot him a small smile, "Yeah, right here." I took my backpack off of my back and pulled out the heavy cylinder-looking… thing. I placed it on the desk in front of Gadon and he put hand on top of it and sighed gratefully.

"I was beginning to wonder if you would make it. The race is tomorrow, and my mechanics need time to install the prototype into the swoop engine of our bike."

I let out a breath. Tomorrow? Man, how long were we down there? "Okay, I lived up to my end of the deal. Now you better come through!" I warned him, thinking of everything we'd been through to get the stupid thing.

"I have the strangest feeling that you don't trust me." He chuckled. "Don't worry; I'm a man of my word. I promised you could ride in the swoop race under the Hidden Bek banner, and I'm still going to let you do that. And I'm even going to go one better – I'm going to let you ride the swoop bike with the prototype accelerator installed on it. Without it, you won't stand a chance."

Zaerdra, Carth and Mission gasped, I looked at the old man like he had lost his mind, "Gadon! You can't be serious! We need one of our best riders on that bike! We can't let some rookie take the prototype engine into the race!" Zaerdra told him.

Yeah, I had to admit I wasn't exactly liking the idea either. "Why are you doing this, Gadon?"

Gadon sighed, "Well, I have to be honest with you – there's a reason I'm letting you take the prototype engine. The accelerator isn't stable; there's a good chance it could explode during the race."

I felt Carth stiffen beside me as my own eyes widened. "Explode?" I whispered to myself.

"I can't ask one of my own riders to take the risk – they'll be running unmodified swoops in the race. You'll be the only one using the prototype. If you can complete the track before the accelerator overheats then you'll win for the Beks. If you die, then one of my other riders could still come through for me."

I scoffed, clenching my jaw at his casual tone. "Sounds like you've got all your bases covered." I said sarcastically. Carth was still stiff and silent beside me.

"You don't get to be leader of a swoop gang if you don't know how to work all the angles."

For a moment, I fell into silence, looking up at the roof and praying to whoever was up there that I wouldn't explode tomorrow. "Okay," I finally sighed. "I get it. I'm ready."

Gadon grinned, "You can stay here tonight. The mechanics need time to install the accelerator on the engine, so you won't be able to practice your riding."

"Oh, brilliant." Yet another reason of why this idea sucks ass.

"But I've got good instincts, and you have the look of a racer about you. Just try to relax and in the morning we'll take you to the swoop track."

"Awesome." I whispered under my breath. Gadon called someone over and we followed them to the room we'd all be staying in. It was small, but had enough beds for us all. The guy pointed out the refresher, told us where we could find the kitchen, and then left. I let out the biggest sigh in the world.

* * *

I was the last finished cleaning up. I walked out of the refresher with fresh clothes and hair and sparkly clean accessories. I walked over to everyone who were hanging out in the gungy little room Gadon had let us accommodate for the night.

"Hey, I gotta go do something. The race is tomorrow, right? And we got plenty of time 'till then." I nodded, affirming my own statement, and then I turned and grinned to Mission. "Come on, you and me got work to do." Carth stepped forward and opened his mouth in protest but I cut him off before he could begin. "Nope, you're not coming. This is girl time." I turned to Zaalbar. "You don't mind if I steal Mission for a while, do you?" He shook his head and growled his consent. I grinned, turned to Mission and we were off.

"So, what are we doing, Val?" Mission grinned excitedly.

My heart thudded joyously at the affectionate shortening of my name. "Truthfully? We're going back down to the Undercity. There's something I gotta check out."

"Oh, cool. Will it be dangerous?"

I considered the possibility rate of our deaths. "Nah, we'll be fine." I nudged her. "Just don't say anything to Carth, alright? 'Coz then we'd really be in danger."

Mission laughed, "That old geezer."

* * *

I nodded to the Sith at the elevator and he let us through with barely a glance. We stepped out of the elevator and I led Mission toward the gates out of the 'village', barely nodding at the stupid gate-keeper man. As we walked, I decided to approach the conversation I wanted to have with Mission cautiously... and quietly. I didn't want to attract the attention of any of those damned scary Rakghouls. Carth wasn't here to hide behind this time. I cleared my throat, "So… Mission. Our last conversation…"

Mission turned her head as she walked and smiled apologetically up at me. "Hey, yeah, I'm sorry about that. I get a little touchy when it comes to Griff. It's kind of embarrassing telling people about him."

I frowned, "Embarrassing? Why?"

Mission sighed heavily, "It's complicated. Griff wasn't the most popular guy; he had his faults. But I still loved him, you know? Sometimes people don't understand. I never knew my parents; my brother always looked out for me. He's the one who brought me to Taris. I was just a kid; only five. But I remember the trip – if you could call it that." This whole subject seemed tiring for her to talk about and I could tell that it was a major stress on her mind.

"We were stuffed inside a packing crate in a star freighter's cargo hold with just enough food and water to make the trip. Not exactly first class, you know?"

I let out a breath, a disapproving frown on my face, "You were stowaways?"

Mission flushed and stammered, "I don't know the whole story – I was pretty young. But my brother owed a lot of money. Might even have been a few arrest warrants out for him, I don't know. The only way to get off the planet was to smuggle ourselves out. I mean, I don't want to make it sound like we were criminals… well, maybe my brother was."

She sighed in annoyance and hunched up her shoulders, glaring at the ground, "See, this is why I don't like to talk about it. It makes Griff sound worse than he really was. My brother had his problems, but he always looked out for me."

I nodded, understanding. This Griff sounded like a grade A loser, but he was her family. "He's family. You have to stick by your family."

Mission's head shot up and she looked at me, surprised and hopeful. Man, I was getting better at this, "Yeah – that's what I'm trying to say! Without my brother I don't know where I'd be." Then she sighed and the sparkle of relief and hope faded, "He gambled. And drank. And he was always borrowing money for his latest get rich quick scheme. But he had a good heart, you know? He taught me how to survive.

"He showed me how to slice into a computer's security system; how to get inside a locked building without the entry codes, and how to spot a wealthy mark for a quick shell game." Mission was smiling fondly to herself as she said this, and when she smiled up at me I quickly plastered an impressed smile on my face; hiding the cringe of disapproval.

"Pretty handy skills to have, Mission." I encouraged her.

She nodded, "Yeah, Griff did right by me. I really miss him since he left. I keep hoping he'll come back some day. He promised me he would."

"Why did he leave?" Why did he abandon you? is what I really wanted to say, but I doubted that would go down too well.

"He fell in with a bad crowd." And then, in the blink of an eye, Mission's face turned furious, "It's all Lena's fault. She's the one who took him from me! Just batted those long lashes at him and off he went!" She cried, kicking the ground harshly.

I blinked, surprised at the sudden change, "Who's Lena?"

Mission growled, "I don't want to talk about Griff and Lena – just the thought of that space tramp makes my blood boil! Subject's closed as far as I'm concerned!" Mission took one glance at my ready-to-start-throwing-stuff-'coz-I-thought-this-was-going-really-well expression and sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, Val. But if I'm going to be any help to you I can't be worrying about my brother running off with some intergalactic skank!" She sighed again, and added gently, "So, is there something else you need? "

I shook my head. I managed a small, understanding smile her way, "It's okay. I get it. You don't have to talk about anything if you don't want to." A moving red thing caught my eye and I threw my hand out in front of Mission's chest, stopping her. Three Sith troopers lumbered over to us, wielding a blaster each. I sent a warning look at Mission, telling her not to attack unless necessary; we were out-manned and out-gunned. But at least I had found what I was looking for; Sith.

"You there! Civilian! This is a restricted area! What are you doing down here?"

I swallowed hard once and then put on a haughty face and tone, "Excuse you… I've got all the proper security papers, thank you very much! I'm allowed to be here." I took the papers out of my pocket and all but shoved them in his face.

"Security papers?" He looked them over. "Oh… you're one of those trackers the Commander sent down, right? They should have given you an armed escort – it's nasty down here!" The concern in the faceless red Sith's voice shocked me for a moment, but I shook it off, "We've already lost one patrol…. We figure the Rakghouls got them. We've had so many encounters with those things we've actually run out of Rakghoul serum." Oh, shit. Now what am I gonna do?

"Plus, we've had several skirmishes with looters from those Lower City swoop gangs. I'm telling you; we should just stay in the Upper City where we're in control!"

I frowned, and then an idea popped into mind. It was worth trying, right? "You said you lost one patrol already?" Surely there would be just a bit of serum on one of the bodies.

"Oh, is that why you're down here? Search and rescue." I could feel his eyes running across my body. "I didn't think they would send anyone. They were in the southern section of the Undercity when we lost contact. I would have gone to investigate, but my orders are to search for those crashed escape pods… even if it means leaving another patrol to die."

How nice, "Well, you just follow those orders and keep looking!"

"Of course I will. I never disobey my orders… I'm not exactly a fan of court martials and executions." He chuckled, the sound distorted through his helmet. "Come on patrol, let's get back to it. The sooner we get this search down the sooner we can get out of this mutant infested hole. Move out!"

And with that, they marched passed us, heading back the way they came.

I waited until I could no longer hear their footsteps and then turned to Mission, "Which way's south?"


	7. 1-6

We walked out of the Undercity elevators. Well, Mission walked. I sort of staggered about like I was drunk as the world spun and I tried not to put too much pressure on my left foot.

"I can't believe that." I said for what must've been the thousandth time. "That stupid guy just ran out there squealing and yelling, practically waving a neon sign over his head that read, 'Hey, Rakghouls! I'm over here! Come and eat me!'"

Mission sighed, coming over and offering me her shoulder to lean on, but I refused. "I know it sucks but there wasn't really anything you could do, Val."

"I should've tackled him." I grumbled.

"But you didn't. And now he's dead. Please, you have to move on."

I let out a huge breath, "I know. I know. It's just… other than me, Carth and Bastila, that idiot was the only other survivor."

"Survivor of what?"

I stopped my staggering along and looked at her, surprised. "We haven't told you yet?" She shook her head and I let out another huge breath. "Well, I think it's about time I did."

We half-walked all the way to the Upper City elevator, rode it to the surface and then made our way to Zelka Forn's medical facility, and all the while I recounted step-by-step the events that had gotten us to this point. I told her about our mission to rescue Bastila and I watched as her eyes lit up as all the pieces clicked together.

"And I'm a part of that?" She grinned excitedly. I noticed that she hadn't used her mature-as-thou voice in quite some time, and I was glad.

I nodded to her as we walked in the medical facility, "You're a massive part in it, now. Without you, there's no way I could've gotten past the force field in the sewers, or have known about the giant-ass rancor until it was too late. And I recall you shooting down more than a couple hungry-for-Valery-meat Rakghouls not too long ago." She laughed, ecstatic.

Doctor Forn looked up from his desk as we entered and a small welcoming smile lit up his face. "Welcome back. Are you in need of healing or medical supplies? I can treat any condition, except the Rakghoul disease of course." As he added this, his face dropped dramatically, and a huge smile grew on my own face as I stepped toward him.

"Well, now you can." I dug the small green vial from my back pocket and handed it to him. "As a thank you. For not letting my friend die." I told him, watching his eyes grow to the size of dinner plates.

He stared at it so intently, as if waiting for it to disappear into thin air. And then he laughed joyously, "Yes, this is it! A cure for the Rakghoul disease! With this sample I can make enough serum for everyone!" He clasped his hand tightly around the vial and looked at me, his eyes twinkling with happiness. I smiled back at him. "The people of Taris owe you a debt they can never repay. Please, take this small reward. It isn't much, but it's all I can afford: a few credits and two spare medpacs. I'm sorry that's all I can give you—" He began, but I interrupted him with a laugh.

"It's fine! Thank you, Doctor."

He sighed, eyes still twinkling. "I appreciate everything you've done. There are many who would've sold the serum to the crime lord Davik for a much higher sum."

"You're welcome, Doctor Forn. Now, if it's not too much to ask; can you give me a check over? I got a bit roughed up getting you that serum."

His eyes widened as he took in my beaten and dirty body. "Oh, of course! Just step this way, please."

* * *

Doctor Forn was busy bandaging my ankle when I suddenly blurted out the question without thinking, "You wouldn't happen to have any Republic soldiers lying around would you?"

The doctor's eyes widened and he became very focused on my foot and the blisters there. "Republic soldiers? Uh… no…why would you ask me that? I don't know about any Republic soldiers. Those pods crashed in the Undercity. I'm not involved in any way!"

"You seem awfully defensive about this." I told him with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not defensive! I just don't like being accused of hiding Republic soldiers, which is completely illegal, I'll have you know! This is just as bad as an interrogation by the Sith!" He snapped, and then stopped, looking up from Mission to myself with wide eyes. "You… you're not Sith, are you?"

"Really, why would a Sith have to go hunting for other Sith just for the Rakghoul serum when they could just go to their HQ and ask for it?" I rolled my eyes. "Do we even look like Sith, Doctor Forn?"

"I…er…no. I guess you don't. If anything, you look like Republic soldiers, especially that man you were here with earlier…"

I sent him a pointed look.

"Force! There were survivors! Come, let me show you." He finished off my bandage and then stood and led us to a small back room and stood aside, letting us by. In the room were no less than a dozen Republic soldiers, floating lazily in separate Kolto tanks, all looking quite worse for wear. "Since the space battle overhead, people have been secretly bringing in these Republic soldiers who crash landed on the planet. I had to take them in. What choice did I have?"

"Are they…?" I asked, almost hoping that we weren't the last ones.

Doctor Forn sighed "Their injuries are terrible, most won't survive. But at least I can make their last days more comfortable. And at least here they are hidden away from the Sith."

"Well, at least some of these men ended up in compassionate hands. You're a good man." I sighed.

"I hate to imagine what the Sith would do if they discovered these soldiers here. But since their initial questioning, the Sith have not returned, so it may be my fears are unfound. I wish there was more that I could do for these soldiers, but medical science has only come so far. Now, if you'll excuse me I should return to the front in case anyone comes in needing medical attention. Thank you again for the serum. The impact this will have will be enormous, I can feel it."

I pulled my socks and boots back on, re-clipped my belt and with a final passing nod to Zelka, we were on our way.

* * *

By the time we made it back to the Bek's base, it was way past sun-down. We could've made it back before, but we decided to grab dinner at the Upper City cantina, and with the hours we spent talking about everything and anything –aside from Mission's family, of course—we totally lost track of time.

The Bek door guard lady let us giggling girls in –no, we were not… _that _drunk. Mission conned me into buying her a drink, and I was already bubbly by then so my mind was like; 'Yeah, sure! Buy the fourteen old a Tarisian Ale, she'll be fine!' but by the way she was leaning on me as she giggled and shushed me loudly, she wasn't all that okay—with a disapproving shake of her head. We snuck toward the 'bedroom' that we were all sharing, as quietly as we could, ducking through the door way and stumbling around in the dark, trying to find our beds, giggling as we went.

Suddenly, the lights turned and we screamed as we came face-to-face with Carth Onasi. I giggled. He was wearing nothing but his pants and he looked_ fine_. I rolled my eyes at myself and giggled a bit more.

Carth looked from Mission to me and back and then he asked in disbelief, "Are you _drunk_?"

I opened my mouth and left it hanging there for a moment as I tried to think through the haze, "Uhh…" I glanced at Mission, and regretted it as we both began giggling again. "…No?"

Carth stared at me, his mouth open and his eyes furious. He shook his head, "Of all the irresponsible…" He pointed a finger sharply toward Mission, who flinched, before falling onto her bed, giggling, "She's just a kid!"

Mission raised her head and tried to glare at him, "I'm fourteen, ye old cripple!"

Carth's eyebrows rose even higher on his forehead. "Fourteen." He mumbled to himself and then turning back to glare at me, "She's fourteen!"

I rolled my eyes, "Well, no duh! She just said that, stupid."

He let out a harsh breath and tilted his head back, reaching up his hands to rub his face. uddenly, I was distracted by the muscles that were showing on his torso and without realizing it, I found myself staring dumbly at his abs. "You are so drunk." He groaned. "It's not even worth trying to yell at you."

I was still staring at his muscles. "And you are so hot." I whispered under my breath, before giggling and turning around as I flushed, trying to hide it. "Oh did I say that out loud? How embarrassing." I giggled again as I hurried over to the refresher, feeling like a little kid.

I washed my face, took out my hair and slipped on a loose shirt and pair of pants. By the time I came out, Mission was passed out on her bed and Zaalbar was removing her shoes and jacket. I smiled and giggled a bit at the big hairy guy who was handling the kid so gently and caringly. I went and collapsed onto my bed, ignoring the glaring Carth who was sitting over on his bed, continuously sighing in an irritated and irritating way.

I snuggled under the covers as Zaalbar walked over and turned off the lights. I turned on my side, facing Carth's bed across the way, closed my eyes and fell straight into dreamland.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up, groaning and ran to the refresher. Carth found me there about an hour later, my head in the toilet bowl.

He shook his head and yawned, leaning against the doorframe in just his pants. Damn that boy looked good. It wasn't even fair! And the worst part was that I was hugging a toilet bowl with my hair everywhere; my eyes probably red and puffy, and vomit on my chin. It was enough to get even me feeling self-conscious in his presence. "That's what you get for being stupid."

I kept my eyes closed and groaned, "I'm not stupid, you're stupid. Stupid. And it wasn't even my idea. I was just gonna take Mission out for dinner and maybe have a couple of drinks myself, but the evil little urchin talked my drunk-ass into letting her have some. And then since she was drinking more, I had to drink more and now here we are; the morning after - with you standing there all pissy at me and me with a killer hangover and my head in a toilet bowl. So, are you happy, Carth? Or do you want to yell at me a bit, just to make you feel better?"

He shrugged. "No, I'm feeling pretty good. I just wanna know; are you going to do something stupid like that again?"

I shook my head and moaned, "Never again! Never, ever, _ever_ again… Not even in a _million_ years!"

Carth nodded, content with my answer. "Good to hear." He moved over to me and put a big, cool hand on my head. "How are you feeling?'

"Like I've got the worst hangover ever." I groaned again, leaning my hot body toward his cool one. "And my ankle hurts."

He chuckled and leant down, putting his hands underneath my armpits and lifted me up and away from the toilet, ignoring my protests. "Away from the toilet. We've gotta get some fluid into your body –you're dehydrated. And check on that ankle too."

I rolled my eyes, but focused intently on Carth Onasi: Republic officer who had now gone into full blown caring-for-a-sick-friend mode. Actually, the first thing I wanted to say was caring-for-his-sick-_girlfriend_ mode, but that would just be wishful thinking on my part.

What really pissed me off though was how the lightweight, fourteen year old Mission, who had chugged down nearly as many glasses of ale as me, was up and chirpy and completely not hung over.

I glared at her as Carth sat me down on my bed and went outside to get some water and stuff from some helpful Bek.

When he came back, he cleaned me up, made my stomach stop roiling and my head stop pounding and he made my morning just… amazing. And it wasn't just because he was yet to put on a shirt. He, Zaalbar and Mission managed to get my mind off of my stupid hangover and the humiliation of the whole event by calling out every joke they could think of, and some that they had obviously made up.

For a very short moment, as we all sat in this dirty little room with a leaking roof and mouldy walls, everything was good and happy and care-free.

And then I remembered the race. And Bastila. And everything else.

* * *

We got ready and a group of Beks came and escorted us to the swoop racing pits. Mission and Zaalbar wished me luck and then ran off, probably to find some good seats. Carth stayed back for a while longer. He looked worried.

"Valery?" I looked at him inquiringly as he ran a hand through his short hair, "Please be careful. And don't… just don't blow up, okay?"

For a moment I just stood there staring at him, and then I burst into laughter. Could it be, that Carth Onasi actually cared about me? "I'll try, Carth." I laughed, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder and grinning up at him.

He sighed, still looking worried, but now with a small smile tugging up the corner of his mouth. "Good. Good luck out there, Val." He said, and then turned and walked off.

I laughed for a bit longer before some Ithorian mechanic came up to me and began drilling me on the rules and risks of swoop racing. I missed half of it, but I caught something along the lines of: there're obstacles that make you go slower, panels that make you go faster, something about switching gears when the engine gets hotter… Also something about how the accelerator may only hold up for four or five heats before it explodes.

Yeah, that guy made me feel real confident about my chances.

And then I saw her. Bastila. The stupid little Jedi we had spent the last couple of weeks or so looking for. She just sat there, sleeping in a cage with an ugly band around her neck and wearing stripper clothes. She looked liked they'd well and truly drugged her.

I had to admit that she was pretty, with her smooth pale skin and brown hair up in pigtails. But she was also pretty useless as well.

I ignored the warnings and taunts of the other Beks and Vulkars alike as walked up to the race announcer and I began my first heat.

Apparently, 38:43 was a difficult time to beat. I didn't find it so. Maybe it was the accelerator, maybe it was my wicked awesome skills, but I beat it by more than ten seconds. And that Redros guy was pretty pissed.

Then, of course, he managed to beat mine. He taunted and laughed at me and said that there was no point going back out there because he was just so awesome.

Then, of course, I went out there and I beat his time so badly that no one had anything to say except; holy wow.

"You did it!" The Ithorian mechanic guy yelled as I stumbled back through the door from my last heat. Sweat dripped from my body and my clothes, hands and face were smudged with black from the bike and its fuel. "You did it! In twenty years I've never seen anybody handle a swoop bike like that before! Nobody's going to beat that time – nobody!"

Now, I don't know about you, but those sorta compliments from a guy who was so doubtful before really did wonders for my already incredibly large ego.

"I guess Gadon knew what he was doing when he picked you to ride for us. Now the only thing is to wait for the time to become official and go collect your prize."

Suddenly, the sound of fanfare instruments filled the air and all eyes in the room turned to the announcer. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the winner of this year's swoop race; Valery Mason of the Hidden Beks!" Everyone on the side of the Hidden Beks went absolutely mental with their cheering, and people from several other gangs –excluding the Vulkars, of course—cheered as well. I smiled hugely and bowed to them all, soaking up the attention like a sponge. Ego inflation time!

"Put your hands together and show your appreciation for one of the most daring riders this swoop track as ever seen! Through your skill and courage you have proven yourself the premier swoop rider of Taris, and brought great glory to the Hidden Bek gang!" The cheers kept coming, and I kept smiling, soaking it up.

"Now, here to present the champion's prize: Brejik, leader of the Black Vulkars."

I took one look at the guy's face, and my smile fell away.

"People – hear me!" He yelled at the crowd whose cheered quickly fell away at the tone of his voice. "Before I present the so called 'champion' of the Beks with her prize, there is something you must know: this Valery Mason of the Hidden Beks cheated!"

I narrowed my eyes. "You're a damn liar, Brejik!"

"Your swoop bike was using a prototype accelerator – clearly an unfair advantage! Because of this Hidden Bek treachery I am withdrawing the Vulkar's share of the victory prize!"

Collective gasps of shock and outrage could be heard in the room. "You can't do this, Brejik!" The race announcer guy glared. "You know the rules: nobody's allowed to withdraw a victory prize after the race. It goes against all our most sacred traditions!"

"You old fool!" Brejik snarled, rolling his eyes. "Your traditions are nothing to me – I am the wave of the future! If I want to withdraw the prize and sell the woman on the slave market myself, nobody can stop me!"

"I might have something to say about that, Brejik!" Mine, and everyone else's head turned to the sound of the new voice, and watched in shock as the cage door burst open and the Vulkar guarding it was knocked unconscious by one very healthy, awake and angry looking Jedi.

Brejik stumbled backward, his face shocked. "What? Impossible! You were restrained by a neural disruptor! How could you have possibly summoned the will to free yourself?"

Bastila knelt down and took the unconscious Vulkar's double virbroblade, and then stood and looked at Brejik very calmly. "You underestimate the strength of a Jedi's mind, Brejik," I blinked as anger clouded her features, "A mistake you won't live to regret!"

Brejik narrowed his eyes, "Vulkars – to me! Kill this woman! Kill the swoop rider! Kill them all!"

And suddenly, the whole place turned chaotic. I was thrown around by frantic mechanics and riders who were all running to the doors and their escape. I managed to set my feet and force my way through them to where Bastila was fighting Brejik and three of his goons. I drew my blade and went to help her, but was stopped as another vibroblade swung at my head out of nowhere. I lifted my blade and blocked it, and turned to the Vulkar, Redros. I pushed his blade away from me and stepped to the side so that I was facing him.

For a long moment we just stared at each other and I took in his tired, furious face, his sweaty hands and the way his body couldn't seem to stay still.

I saw his attack before it came – he stepped forward before he raised his blade, too high. My blade was there to meet it, and since he was holding the grip with both hands and his blade was over his head, I lifted my leg and I kicked his stomach, hard. His attacks were based on strength and power, yet he had little skill.

Redros curled into himself, winded and I took my chance – with my face blank, I spun my blade in my hands and held it so it was facing downward. And then I plunged it deep between his shoulder blades. Redros fell to the ground, gasping for a moment, and then he died.

I turned my attention back to Bastila. She had already made work of two of Brejik's cronies and was currently stuck in a heated battle with the man and the last one. She was beaten and exhausted.

I sighed and walked quietly toward Brejik's back, and then I took his shoulder and I slipped my blade upward through his lower back, penetrating his heart. I listened as his blade dropped to the ground and all of his strength left his body. I removed my blade and let the corpse fall. I looked up to see Bastila finishing off the last Vulkar.

I shook my head and bent down, rifling through Brejik's pockets. A couple of credits, a few grenades… a lightsaber. I pocketed them all. I wanted to see if Bastila could sense I had it.

"Maybe those bloody Vulkars will think twice next time before trying to keep a Jedi prisoner!" The woman was grumbling to herself as she dropped the double vibroblade and brushed off her hands. "And as for you," She turned on me, flicking her hair out of her fiery eyes, "if you think you can collect me as a prize…" She stopped, narrowed her eyes a moment and then gasped, stepping back, "Wait, I don't believe this! You're… you're one of the soldiers with the Republic fleet, aren't you? Yes, I'm sure of it. How did you end up racing for these swoop gangs?"

I stood up straight, and grinned at her, overwhelmingly relieved that she was finally free. "My name is Valery Mason. I'm here to save you." I told her self-assuredly.

"Save me?" At her tone, my face dropped a tad, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion whilst the grin remained on my face. Wasn't this the point where she thanked me profusely and then got on home? "Is that what you were trying to accomplish by riding in that swoop race?" My grin was still there, but the feeling in my chest was more disbelief than anything. But still the small, half-grin remained. "Well, as far as rescues go this is a pretty poor example." That did it. Any trace of a grin disappeared. My eyes remained narrowed and my lips slightly parted in disbelief as I glowered furiously at the little Jedi princess who had the nerve to put me down in such a way.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I managed to free myself from that neural restraint collar without your help. In fact, it's more accurate to say that _I_ saved _you_! Brejik and his Vulkars would have left you for dead if I hadn't stepped into that fight. You're lucky I was here to get you out of this mess!"

Oh, Force if looks could kill this brat Bastila would be six foot under. I let out a disbelieving, dark, harsh laugh. "I think you've got things confused. _You,_" I shoved a finger toward her, "were a helpless prisoner until _I_," I pointed to myself. "came along!"

"I may have been a prisoner, but a Jedi is never helpless. Maybe you've heard of a little thing called 'the Force'?"

My left eyes twitched and my teeth clenched together.

"But I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on you. You did try to save me after all, even if it didn't go quite as planned. So, let's get down to business – we're not out of danger yet."

"Oh? I didn't realize." I growled, sarcastically.

"If I'm going to figure out a way for us to get off this planet I need to know what kind of resources we can draw on. First, are we the only two survivors?"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, _wait_. Who said _you_ were in charge here?"

"The Republic, for one. I was fleet commander, remember?"

Of all the arrogant…! "Your fleet blew up, _remember_?" I said, snidely.

"Yes, I do. Well, I don't want you getting all worked up over nothing. So tell me – do you have a plan to get off this planet?"

"Actually, I don't. _Carth_ wanted to make sure you were safe first." I rolled my eyes.

"Carth? Carth Onasi? He's alive? Finally, some good news! Carth is one of the Republic's best soldiers. He's proved himself a hero a dozen times over! And he sent you to save me?"

Actually, _I_ sent me to save you since Carth was too much of a pansy to get in the stupid swoop bike.

"Maybe I misjudged you… Carth wouldn't have sent you if he wasn't confident in your… abilities. Forgive me – "

"No." I grumbled, but Bastila ignored me completely.

"Despite my Jedi training I still tend to act a bit rashly sometimes."

"You think?"

"Please, take me to Carth right away. Between the three of us I'm sure we can figure a way off this planet before the Sith realize we're here."

I checked my datapad and saw that I had got a message from Mission telling me that we would meet up at the abandoned apartment instead of the Bek base.


	8. 1-7

God, the walk home was agonizing. We somehow snuck past the guard in the elevator to the surface, but each time a Sith patrol passed, I had to literally shove Bastila into an alleyway or into a random group of people. She shot me a dirty look and told me that she did not believe in hiding from her enemies. I asked her if she believed in dying young and she shut up. Finally, we made it to the apartment and the moment we entered, she began commenting on every single little flaw. How smelly it was, how slimy the walls looked, how there was water leaking from the roof, how the glass hadn't been cleaned in years, how cold it was, how this place was so much unlike her perfect Dantooine. I groaned aloud as we passed Mr. Janitor and she began almost screaming how incompetent the janitor here must be to let the place come to this. She clearly wasn't smart enough to realize that the mop and the bucket and the jumpsuit the poor guy was wearing clearly gave away his job title. I mouthed 'sorry' to him as we passed and he just rolled his eyes. I unlocked the door and swept inside, an angry glower on my face. Everyone stood up as we entered and hurried over.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! The fight broke out and the rest of the Beks and the Vulkars started fighting as well. It was insane – everyone was just shooting at everyone and I thought me and Big Z were gonna die! So Carth said that we should get out of there and we did and—who's this?" Mission stopped, finally noticing Bastila. I didn't answer her. I didn't do anything but pat her softly on the shoulder and then move to the wall and lean up against it, closing my eyes and sighing, exhausted.

"Bastila – you're alive! Finally things are looking up. Now, we just need to figure out a way to get off this planet."

"You mean you don't have a plan to get off Taris yet? What have you been doing all this time?"

I rolled my eyes. "We were trying to find you, _remember_?

"I see. Now that I'm back in charge of this mission, perhaps we can start doing things properly. Hopefully our escape from Taris will go more smoothly than when you 'rescued' me from Brejik."

My eyes flew open and landed on her, aflame with fury. I pushed off the wall and pointed a finger at her menacingly. "You know, I don't think I like you very much, _princess_." I snarled in contempt.

"I know you're new at this Bastila, but a leader doesn't berate her troops just because things aren't going as planned. Don't let your ego get in the way of the real issues here!"

"That hardly strikes me as an appropriate way of addressing your commander, Carth. I am a member of the Jedi Order and this is my mission. Don't forget that my Battle Meditation ability has helped the Republic many times in this war, and it will serve us well here I am sure."

"I'm sorry, _how_ old are you?" I asked, venom dripping from my words and my eyes narrowed to slits.

"Valery, please." Carth glared shortly at me, telling me to back down. Then he turned back to the little Princess. "Your talents might win us a few battles, but that doesn't make you a good leader! A good leader would at least listen to the advice of those who have seen more combat that she ever will!"

"Oh, Force – now there's two of them!" I groaned, covering my face with my hands and beginning to pace.

"You know, I had my doubts about this mission but I figured the Jedi Council wouldn't put you in charge if you weren't prepared. But here you are, acting like a spoiled child!"

I stopped pacing and looked toward Carth in shock. The Princess' face was wearing the same expression.

"… I see. It's true that I don't have much military experience; perhaps I should not be so quick to judge. Very well, Carth: what do you suggest we do?"

"First off we can't get hung up on who's in charge; we all need to work together if we want to get off this rock The answer's out there, we just have to find it."

"Well said, Carth. And the sooner we start looking the better; I've already been a prisoner of the Vulkars and I don't plan on being captured by the Sith. I must meditate and clear my mind. Excuse me." With that, the Princess walked off into the corner, sat down crossed-legged and closed her eyes. We all watched her for a long moment. Then I let out a huge sigh.

"I hate her already." I mumbled gloomily, strolling over to my bed and flopping onto it.

First, I napped, but after a long, long while of listening to Mission, Zaalbar and Carth's voices, I was lulled to sleep.

* * *

The dream was back. The yellow-bladed Jedi. She was Bastila. She struck down the dark Jedi she was fighting and then looked up to stare calmly at her enemy. Revan. She could feel his eyes on her, almost like a hot poker on her skin. "You cannot win, Revan." She said serenely. This only seemed to anger the Dark Lord as he took a step forward, his red lightsaber glowing in the darkness. The red blade was swerving toward her with impossible speed, and for a single moment, Bastila Shan thought that she would lose; there was no possible way she block that attack – she could barely see it coming. Revan was far more powerful than she or any of the Jedi could or would ever be. Bastila stared wide-eyed at the Dark Lord of the Sith – at her death, and then the world exploded. Something had hit the bridge. And Revan.

The rest of Bastila's Jedi companions were dead, Bastila herself was weak and injured. But Revan. He was alive, just barely.

The yellow-bladed Jedi slowly crawled to beside the unconscious Sith Lord and gazed down sorrowfully at his mask. The mask of Mandalore. What did he hide behind it?

Slowly and hesitantly, Bastila Shan removed the mask of the Dark Lord of the Sith and gazed upon his true face. All colour drained from her own and she fell backward, her eyes wide and horrified.

"No…" She gasped. I yearned to see the face that had made the Princess react in such a way, wanted to look upon the man who had caused so much destruction; so much death…

But then, I was awake. I lay there, staring at the roof of the apartment, trying to slow my breathing and my heart beat. My skin was covered in sheet of sweat so I wiped my face, cringing at the amount of liquid that clung to my hand. What was stranger was that my body felt as if it had been fighting the fight of its life.

"Are you alright?"

The quiet voice scared the crap out of me and I bolted into a sitting position to see Bastila sitting on the floor beside my bed, staring at me creepily. I sighed, relieved that I wasn't about to get murdered by a Sith and then narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'm fine. It's nothing."

The Princess stared at me doubtfully for a moment before closing her eyes again. "As you wish."

It was silent for a while, as neither of us moved. The others were still fast asleep. Suddenly, I asked the question that had been on my mind for quite a while now. "Bastila? Did you really kill Darth Revan?"

Her eyes flew open and stared into mine. For a moment, they seemed almost fearful of what they would find. Then, she replied with a sigh that should have come from a woman twice her age. "I don't know if I did. I truly hope so, because if I haven't…" She shook her head and seemed to shiver.

I let out a gentle laugh, not realizing until later that I was trying to put her at ease. "Well, that will certainly help me sleep." I smiled sarcastically.

For a long moment she just stared at me, and then finally she smiled. "Yes. Well, goodnight Valery Mason."

I grinned at her cockily and then laid back down. "Night, Princess."

* * *

The next morning when we woke everyone was sore and tired. I was still dirty from the day before so I took a long shower; loving the feeling of my muscles relaxing and unwinding. I kept on having those stupid dreams about Bastila and Revan. I'd obviously heard the story too many times from Carth. I shook my head at the thought of Carth. It was obvious that he didn't trust me, but also that he cared about me. I still wasn't sure that I cared about him.

I pulled on some fresh clothes –man, I was running out of those- and walked out to the room, saying a 'good morning' to Mission as she walked passed me into the refresher. She yawned hugely and shot me a sleepy smile.

I collapsed on the couch across from Zaalbar and shot him a small smile before looking over to the other side of the room at Carth and Bastila who were leaning toward each other and talking intently, staring into each other's eyes. I couldn't help the stab of jealousy.

Then I remembered that Bastila's lightsaber was still hidden in my boots under my bed and I felt a lot better.

"You did well yesterday, Valery." My head shot around to Zaalbar so quickly that I felt my neck crack.

For a short moment of shock I stared at him, and then I felt my face pull into a large beam. "Thank you, Zaalbar. That means a lot coming from you." I told him sincerely.

He let out a small growl and nodded. I knew that that was all I was going to get out of him but it was enough. We both looked away, me still grinning like a little kid. It faded slightly as I remembered that I would be ditching him pretty soon… or would I? _Could_ I?

Mission came out of the refresher, looking bluer than ever. She plopped down next to Zaalbar and smiled at me. "So, how does it feel to be Taris' swoop riding champion?" How could I ditch these two?

I shrugged, my smile turning proud, "Oh, you know. I know I'm pretty dang awesome. It's just now more people recognize it."

Mission shook her head, laughing, "You're pretty conceited, you know that?"

I sighed, "I try."

Mission shook her head again as Bastila and Carth came over, finally done with their secret conversation. They stood at the end of both couches, hands behind their backs; looking all superior. I scoffed, rolling my eyes. Those two I would ditch without a moment's thought.

I noticed that Bastila was now wearing some pale skin-tight robes with this bark-looking brown strip wrapped around her neck and running down her front, tucked beneath her belt and then just hanging there between her legs, near her knees. She had on these brand new, shiny boots on her feet, gloves that weren't really gloves but just these bits of material that wrapped around her lower arms and then reached across the back of her hand and wrapped around her middle finger. She'd also re-done her hair so that it swept across her forehead and then pulled back into two low pony tails at the back of her head. Her smooth, pale skin was glowing with health and there was no dirt or bruises or even a scratch on any part of her body.

I had to admit that the woman was beautiful. Prettier than me, I thought grumpily. Me with my boring dark hair that I pulled back into a ponytail and then left to hang free as it slowly fell out during the day; poking out everywhere. Me, with my scarred body, and bruised and battered skin. With my rough, callused hands and uneven and dirty fingernails. Me, with my 25 year old body… or am I 26? Oh god, I can't even remember. When was my birthday? I didn't know.

"Good morning, everyone. I don't think we were all properly introduced, yesterday. My name is Bastila Shan. I am a Republic Officer and a Jedi." She said all formally. I glanced at Mission who had her eyebrows raised, amused.

Mission stood up and gave a little wave. "Hey. I'm Mission Vao and this here's Zaalbar. He's a Wookiee, I'm a Twi'lek and I'm pretty sure now we're with the Republic." She looked at me, "I mean, that is if _you_ are, Val. You're the one Big Z and I gotta follow." She looked at me curiously.

I sat there and shrugged, not really caring. I just wanted to get this over with and get off this stupid planet and away from these people. "Yeah, sure. Republic – why not?"

I saw Carth frown at me. "Okay, well now that we've finally got Bastila back we have to figure out a way to get off of this planet and back into Republic space."

"I think we'll need some help getting off Taris. Maybe if we ask around, one of the locals can help us out."

I scoffed and turned to look at both of them, forward and back. I glared at them both, mockingly. "_That's_ your plan?" My voice was harsh.

Bastila didn't react. "Yes, do you have a better one?"

"No, as a matter of fact I _don't_. I didn't have time to come up with one because I was too busy trying to save your prissy ungrateful butt from a swoop gang. Plus you're in charge, right? And you're a great all powerful Jedi. Couldn't you come up with something a bit more certain than 'let's go to a cantina and ask some drunks for directions'? It's a bit of a let down, honestly."

"Well it's not like we have much choice here, Mason." Carth defended.

"No, I guess we don't, but come _on_! Really?" I shook my head. "How's about you's all sit down and have a nice long chat and come up with more than that half-assed plan and then I'll come back and we'll put it into action, eh?" I shook my head and stood up, going to my bed, shrugging on my jacket, clipping on my belt and snatching my boots from underneath.

I saluted them all before walking out the door, ignoring Carth's demands to know where exactly I was going.

I walked into the Cantina with my hands deep in my pockets, and dropped into an empty booth in the corner with a glower on my face.

"Not even a word of thanks, that stupid bitch. I should've just let Brejik sell her on the slave market. I should've sold her myself!" I ranted to myself, ordering an ale. "I'll damn well punch that prissy little princess in the face next chance I get. What a stupid plan. That _so_ can't have been what her and Carth were getting all up close and personal about…" I continued grumbling to myself as the waitress brought my drink and then stood there with a bored look on her face while I dug around in my pockets for some credits. Then suddenly there was another hand there, paying for my drink. I moved my eyes along the arm and saw that none other than Canderous of Ordo sitting across from me.

"Keep the change." He told the waitress. She nodded quickly and hurried off, clearly scared of the hulking Mandalorian.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "You're not here to kill me, are you? 'Coz that would make my day just that _much_ better."

He looked at me. "How bad could your day have been? It's only 9 o'clock.'

I sighed and took a gulp from my ale. "I hang out with stupid people who I hate."

He chuckled darkly, "Well, we have something in common."

I put down my cup and narrowed my eyes at him, tilting my head curiously. "What do you want, Mandalorian?"

Canderous leaned back and relaxed, resting his big arm along the top of the booth chair. He appraised me with his eyes. "I saw you in the swoop race. Very impressive. You seem like you know how to get results. That's just the kind of person I'm looking for."

I sighed and cradled my glass. "What are you talking about?"

"Look, I don't like you all that much and even sitting here, talking to you I've got the urge to put a bolt through your skull for what you've said to me in the past. But I'm willing to put that all behind us."

I raised an eyebrow, chuckling slightly as I remembered. Ah, good times. "You know I work for Davik and the Exchange; the hours aren't great, but they promised me a fortune to work for them and I have nothing better to do. Mandalorian mercs like me are in high demand.

But lately Davik hasn't been paying me what he promised. I don't like getting cheated, so I figure it's time for me to break the Sith quarantine and get off this backwater planet."

Oh my god, I'm so awesome. I already knew what was coming. "Oh yeah? And how do you plan to do that?"

Canderous removed his arm from the chair and clasped both hands in front of him where he leant toward me on the table. I leant slightly toward him as he lowered him voice. "I've got a plan to escape Taris, but I can't do it alone. I need someone I know can get the job done to help me. That's where _you_ come in." He nodded to me and I raised an eyebrow. "I saw you in that swoop race, and I started thinking."

I couldn't hold back a snort at that and Canderous stopped to glare at me as I fought off the laughter. I shook my head and raised a hand to say, 'sorry, continue.' He glowered a moment longer before continuing.

"Anyone crazy enough to race the way you did is probably crazy enough to break into the Sith military base." Both eyebrows rose as I stared at him. Okay, not exactly what I was expecting, but all the same I felt a wave of excitement wash through me and my eyes lit up. "I need someone to steal the Sith launch codes from the base. Without these codes any ship leaving the atmosphere will be disintegrated by the Sith fleet's automated defense guns."

I narrowed my eyes at him, a 'yes' already being screamed in my mind. "Why should I help you?"

"He's the deal: you bring me those launch codes and I can provide the vehicle to get off the planet – Davik's flagship; the Ebon—"

"The Ebon Hawk." I whispered, a grin growing on my face. Canderous nodded, and then I frowned. "How am I supposed to get inside the base? It's not like I can just go up and knock." I grumbled. "Nothing's ever that easy anymore."

Canderous sighed, "Getting in won't be easy: the Sith base is protected by an encrypted security system. It would take a top of the line astromech droid to slice through it. And lucky for you I know just the place to get a droid like that. Davik was having one built by Janice Nall. Just tell her Canderous sent you and she'll sell you the droid. Then you can use it to get the launch codes from the Sith base."

"Uh huh, and how much would I be paying to get this custom built top-notch astromech droid?"

Canderous shrugged. "How would I know? If you don't have enough just scare her a bit. She'll sell it to you cheap."

"I'm counting on it." I grimaced, thinking of how low I was on credits at the moment. "So, Mr. Big- and-Tough-Mandalorian, why don't you just do all this yourself?"

Canderous leaned back, flinging his arm back over the back of the chair. "Normally I would, but everyone knows who I work for. If I broke into the Sith base they'd send an army down on Davik's estate to get those codes back – we'd never get to the Hawk then. That's why I need you."

I took a deep breath in and then let it out. "Alright then – you got yourself a deal."

"Good. How long do you think it'll take you to get the codes?"

I snorted. "_Please_ - I'll have them by tonight."

He raised a doubtful eyebrow. "Sure you will. I'll wait in Javyar's cantina then. You come find me when you've got those launch codes and I'll make sure we both get off this rock." He said as he stood up, sliding out of the booth. I nodded an affirmative and waved him off.

"See you then, Candy-man."

Canderous walked off grumbling something under his breath.

* * *

I sat there for another hour and a bit. I had a small breakfast and downed two more ales before I decided to go get this base break-in over and done with. I dragged my feet all the way back to the apartment, just breathing the air and taking in the sights. The surface of Taris really was quite beautiful. It was clean and shiny and tall and just went on forever. I stood by this three piece, floating sculpture thing and looked out across the city planet. "They kinda look like giant metal penises." I commented to myself and then chuckled; a whole tirade of dirty thoughts entering my mind.

I took the long way 'round the ring when I got back into the apartment complex, dragging my feet even more so. I didn't want to go back just yet. I wanted to thoroughly enjoy the nice warm buzz of the Tarisian ale for a while longer.

So I spent a good ten minutes talking with Mr. Janitor-man; Tanir, apologizing for stupid Bastila and just chatting. He told me how he loved Taris; how he was born here and never wanted to leave. He had no problem with the Sith or the quarantine but he agreed that it would be frustrating for an off-worlder who just wanted to go home.

I sat on a seat across from the window and watched him as he cleaned the windows, and then the floors, and the corners and side of the room, and even the roof; all with such precision and care. He was a good old man who loved his crappy job and his crappy planet. If only my life were so simple. Eventually, I sighed and got up off the seat, bidding him a good day and then wandered over to the apartment.

It was quiet in the room when I walked in, and when everyone noticed my presence, everyone stood up and started asking a whole tirade of questions. I put both hands up to silence them, and then turned to Bastila, albeit reluctantly.

"First off; I'm sorry for dissing your plan. It was a good plan, and surprisingly a successful one," She opened her mouth, her eyes widening but I silenced her, "but we'll get to that." I turned to Carth, gesturing for him to follow me over to an empty corner of the room, "I need to talk to you about something."

He followed me, immediately noting the fact that my head was a bit on the floaty side, but he decided not to comment. I had been thinking about Carth in the Cantina, and I wanted to talk to him, "I wanna… I want to talk about the trust issues you have with me." I told him.

Carth sighed and gestured to sit on the single couches nearby. We sat down and he sighed again as Mission and Zaalbar got back to their game of Pazaak and Bastila got back to sitting on the floor with her eyes closed.

"I knew you wouldn't understand where I was coming from. Let me try to explain. You're probably one of the most skilled women I've ever met. You've saved my butt more than once and I'm lucky you're here to help us, no question. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to stop watching you or being wary. I'm just not built that way. Period."

I let a breath of frustration out. I already knew this. "And_ what_, exactly, are you watching me for?"

He shrugged. "I don't know that yet. Like I said before; it's probably nothing. But I've been betrayed before by people and I… well, it won't happen again that's all."

I scoffed, "Of course it won't happen again if you never trust anyone."

"Look… I'm not trying to insult you. This is just the way I am." He shook his head and grumbled, "There's no need to take it so personally."

My eye twitched and my hands balled into fists. "Don't tell me not to take it personally, you hairless Wookiee!" I snapped, my eyes narrowed. Woah, here comes the ale…

"Hairless Wookiee?" Carth chuckled, which only made me angrier. "Alright sister, just…" He laughed again, Just calm down before your head explodes."

I gritted my teeth, "Don't tell me to calm down, you ignorant bantha!"

Carth snorted, "Is that your idea of an insult? Come on, sister; take your best shot."

He was so not taking this seriously, the bastard. "Gammorrean pig-man!"

Carth clutched at his chest, faking hurt. "Ooh, ouch. I think you hurt my man-feelings with that one."

I glared. "Don't patronize me." I wasn't as angry as before, just annoyed. I crossed my arms over my chest and leant back into the couch, wishing I had another ale.

He laughed softly, "Wouldn't think of it, gorgeous. Feel better now?"

"Maybe a little." I grumbled, cursing my stomach for clenching at the 'gorgeous'.

"Then maybe we can talk reasonably about this." The joking fell away and his face was serious again. "All I've been trying to say is this isn't personal. If you were smart, you wouldn't trust anyone either… not me, not Bastila and especially not yourself."

I frowned. That was possibly the stupidest thing I ever heard. How could you not trust yourself? That was like saying, 'Hey, lungs? Yeah, I like you an' all, but I don't trust you to do your job.' See? It doesn't make any sense. "I wouldn't want to live like that. I couldn't." I said, my voice quiet.

"Not all of us have the luxury of a choice." He said, his voice harsh and sarcastic. "I'm conditioned this way. _Sorry._"

I stared at him. No, _that_ was the stupidest thing I ever head. "Didn't your mum ever tell you you always have a choice? What you do with your life is your choice; what you say with your tongue is your choice; the movement of your body; the air in your lungs…" I shook my head, my respect for the guy dropping, and my mind accepting the fact that underneath all his manly attractiveness, he was a mental case, and I stood up. "Well that settles that, I guess." I moved away, but stopped as I heard him stand too.

"Why is whether I trust you or anyone so damned important to you? Why… why do you even care?" His eyes looked deep into mine, and I stared back with an 'I don't bloody know, I'm on the edge of being drunk,' look on my face.

He shook his head, "We don't have time for this—"

My eyes widened and I looked down at the watch I had acquired on the way back, "Shit, no. No we don't." Without a glance back toward him I marched over to Mission and held out my hand.

"For the good of the Republic, I need a donation."

The girl stared up at me. "Huh?"

"I need to borrow a couple of credits. I'll pay you back; I promise."

Mission stared at me weird for a moment then she shrugged, standing up and digging around in her pockets. "Okay, yeah. Sure."

With Mission's, Carth's and my own credits we came to a little over a thousand credits. I frowned, knowing that it probably wouldn't be enough. "Damn." I muttered, scooping them all up and putting them in my pocket.

"What do you need all those credits for?" Mission asked, interested.

"I need to buy a droid." I told her, rubbing a hand over my mouth. "An expensive droid."

Bastila piped up, standing up and walking over to me, eyes narrowed. "And why do you need a droid?"

I shot her a cocky smirk, "'Coz I've gotta plan."


	9. 1-8

I brought them all up to speed and took no notice of the 'You've got to be kidding' look on both Carth's and Bastila's faces.

"You just teamed up with Canderous Ordo – the Mandalorian who works for the Exchange, without talking to us first?" Carth's eyes were narrowed and he did not look very impressed.

I pretended to think for a moment, "Uh… _yeah_. He had an awesome plan; was very charismatic, had clearly thought it all through, _oh_… and he brought me a drink. So yeah; I teamed up with him."

Carth glowered at me, his jaw set. I smirked at him, "It's amazing how as soon as I'm on my own, information and opportunities come flying at me, isn't it, Onasi?"

His glare heated and he turned his back on me, crossing his arms with a snarl on his face. I chuckled darkly to myself. Take _that_. That's what you get for being an ignorant, hypocritical, distrusting bastard.

Bastila sighed. "Well, the Mandalorian has access to a ship and to the droid we need to get inside the base to get the launch codes. It seems that we don't have much choice. Well, Valery you seem to know your way around Taris. Lead the way to this Janice Nall."

I nodded, "Will do. Coming Cripple?" He grumbled something under his breath but followed us out the door.

"Me and Big Z will stay here for a bit, and then maybe go to the cantina later for lunch."

I smiled at them where they sat on the couch. "Alright. We'll call you if we need you. See you later."

"Stay out of trouble!"

"Yes, _mum_." I shook my head, smiling as the apartment doors slid shut to the sound of Mission's laughter.

* * *

We walked for a while in that increasingly common silence, until, unexpectedly, Bastila sped up slightly so that she was next to me and began to talk. "Valery?"

I made a unlady-like grunt that meant; 'What?'

"I would like to know what happened after you crashed on Taris. I'm curious as to what you and Carth were doing before we all joined forces."

I didn't look at her. I just kept walking along with my hands in my pockets, watching each Sith patrol we passed in the corner of my eye. It seemed that none of them were aware of Bastila's presence on Taris. Thank the Force. "Before we rescued you, you mean." I corrected her coolly.

"I managed to rescue myself, as I recall. In _fact_, if I hadn't been there, Brejik and his thugs might have killed you in that fight. It's probably more accurate to say that _I _rescued _you_."

My mouth pulled into an annoyed, sarcastic smile, "You didn't escape the Black Vulkars until after I arrived, _as I recall."_

Bastila sighed heavily, "I'll admit that I probably wouldn't have been able to free myself if not for the brawl after the swoop race. I guess I should thank you for that, at least." _No_, really? "Actually, your presence at the swoop track is what I'm curious about. It couldn't have been easy to find me there. Yet somehow you managed."

"You're damn right it wasn't." I muttered and then blinked; pulling up short as the woman suddenly stepped in front of me and stared up at me with a curious face. I stared down at her with a 'what are you doing?' expression and a frown, hands still in pockets.

"You also avoided detection by the Sith, discovered I was a Vulkar prisoner, gained sponsorship for the race and became Taris Swoop Champion. That's quite a résumé."

A small conceited smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. "What can I say? I'm a talented individual."

Bastila's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I can see you do not lack in ability; although modesty is another matter." At that, I just shrugged. What are you gonna do?

"When you were chosen to join this mission, I doubt any of us expected this much from you. A Jedi could have done such things, of course. But only by drawing heavily upon the Force."

What I noticed when she was saying this was her careful, steady tone and the studious look in her eyes like she was expecting me to suddenly take off all of my clothes and start humping the nearest droid. I stared at her suspiciously. "I think you're underestimating us non-Jedi."

Bastila nodded, not taking her eyes from me. "Perhaps. But the Force works through all of us to some degree or another. There are some individuals outside the Jedi Order that we consider 'Force Sensitive'. It is obvious to me that the Force has been working through you. There is no other explanation for your great success, though I am not certain what to make of this discovery. Perhaps if you weren't – well, if you were younger the Jedi might take you for training. But as it is…"

I glared down at the little Jedi princess, well and truly offended, "You know what? I don't want to talk about this anymore. In about five seconds you've succeeded on pinning all my achievements on some invisible Force-thing and calling me old. I don't care what you say, princess – I'm no Jedi. And with any luck, I never will be. Now, let's hurry up and get this stupid droid so that I can get the codes, the ship and then ultimately away from _you_." And with that I brushed past her and continued on my way.

The tension was thick between our group, and after a short while, Carth, being the good little soldier he is, tried to cut it.

"Bastila, I was wondering something. How did those Vulkars manage to capture a famous Jedi like you? Were you knocked unconscious when your escape pod crashed?"

I slowed down slightly, tiling my head to hear her answer. When she did, she stuttered, "No, I was conscious. But my Force powers were exhausted from using my Battle Meditation in the battle for the Endar Spire. Without my help you might never have gotten off the ship alive." So damn arrogant.

"Fair enough. But I've seen you Jedi in action. There's no way those thugs would have stood a chance against your lightsaber."

"My lightsaber was… misplaced." She sighed, sounding frustrated at being confronted about this, "I couldn't find it after the crash. I looked _everywhere_ in that pod. The Vulkars came and overwhelmed me as I was searching for my weapon."

I stopped walking, as did Carth and we both turned to face Bastila, shock on his face, an incredulous, delighted smile on my own. "Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You _lost_ your lightsaber?" He cracked up. "I mean, isn't that a violation of some kind of Jedi code or something?"

"Maybe losing lightsabers in a side-effect of her Battle Meditation." I chuckled.

Bastila's pale cheeks flushed red and she put her hands on her hips, "This is no laughing matter! During the crash my lightsaber must have… it must have fallen from my belt and rolled under my seat! The Vulkars probably found it there when they searched the wreckage." She snapped.

I continued to laugh, but Carth stopped, putting up his hands in surrender, "Hey, hey, hey, don't get mad. I'm sorry. It's just funny to think of a legendary Jedi losing her lightsaber. Take my advice: this is one detail you might want to keep out of the history texts."

For a moment, I stopped laughing. Oh, okay. So he doesn't want to get _Bastila_ mad. He can apologize to _Bastila_ right away because he doesn't want to make _Bastila_ upset but as soon as I get mad it's all 'ooh! Let's patronize and pick on Valery! It'll be funny 'coz she'll get upset and storm out of the room! Har har _har_!' Well, fine! If he likes Bastila so bloody much why doesn't he just _marry_ her? I thought spitefully. Betcha he trusts _her_.

But then came the; "I hardly consider myself a legend, Carth." And I snorted, cracking up all over again, 'coz it was just such a pile of shit. Bastila glanced at me uninterestedly in the corner of her eye, "I will consider your advice when I relate these events to the Jedi Council. There is no need for them to know _every_ detail of what transpired." She told him. I vowed to mention to the Council exactly what happened. I turned around, still laughing and feeling a thousand times better than before.

* * *

Turns out that the Twi'lek, Janice Nall was a coward –I just mentioned the name Canderous and Davik and 'shut down' and the T3-M4 astromech droid was mine for free. And he was so worth the glare from the other members of my party; can you say _adorable_? From his round head to his glowing blue eye… and he was mine! I patted him on the top of the head, grinning as we walked out of the shop. "Well, we've got the guns, we've got the droid. Carth, you ready for this?" He nodded and I nodded. And then Bastila perked up.

"I'm ready too."

I blinked at her. "Oh you're not coming."

Bastila's mouth dropped open as I turned around and started walking with my new best friend. "What do you mean, I'm not coming? Of course I'm coming! Why wouldn't I be coming?" She ran and planted herself in front of me again. I stared down at her, uninterestedly as she frowned, eyes wide and mouth open.

I sighed and shook my head. "You're going back to the apartment and laying low until we get back with Canderous."

She blinked a few times and tried to protest but nothing came out.

I sighed again, "Princess, we're going to a _Sith Base_. These little patrols out here may not know who you are but the higher-ups in there aren't going to have to take a second glance. They'll capture you, call up Malak and suddenly everything we've worked for has been for nothing." I sighed, "Look, they're _Sith_. If you get captured, rescuing you from them isn't gonna be as simple as winning a swoop race."

For a moment Bastila stood there, and then she found her voice, "W-well what are we going to do if the Sith capture _you_? Face it, Valery, you have a better chance of retrieving the launch codes and getting out of the military base alive with _me_ by your side. _You need me_."

For a moment I just stared down at her and then, I shook my head confusedly, "Are you quite certain that you are truly a Jedi? Because, Force, you are the most arrogant girl I have ever met." I murmured, frowning. "And I have met a _lot_ of arrogant girls in my time."

Bastila seemed as if she were in shock. She blinked up at me and then looked away; not in embarrassment, but as if she had just been scolded by her mother. As I frowned down at her I could feel the disapproval flowing from me and I know that she could sense it too, and then she seemed to find herself. But her voice was weak when she spoke, "You can't talk to me about arrogance, Valery Mason." I found, unsurprisingly, that this comment didn't affect me at all. We were all very quiet for a while, and then Carth decided to put his part in.

"Valery, it would be useful to have a Jedi on our side. We don't know what's in there so we have to be prepared for anything and anyone; Dark Jedi included."

I stared a moment longer then nodded, rolling my eyes. "Alright, fine. I guess it does make sense since you _are_ the only one with a lightsaber. Come on."

* * *

Getting into the Sith base was as easy as blinking with T3-M4. I paid off the desk girl to not press the little alarm button that would tell everyone we're here and we were in. After looking through the reception terminal I figured that the elevator was the place we needed to go seeing as it was guarded by this huge assault droid with a shield. We made quiet work of the few sentry droids, but snuck past the rest of the rooms. It was actually incredibly easy.

Then, we found the elevator.

The moment we opened the doors, the assault droid attacked, rushing forward on its two long arms; it's droid eyes focused right on me. Carth shot at it, but the bolts bounced straight off the red energy shield around it. It lifted its arm and flung me back, just as I was raising my blade to attack.

I slid on my back across the floor, about ten meters down the hall and just lay there for a moment, groaning at the pain in my head, where I'd hit it on the floor as I landed. I was seeing stars and I felt like that hangover from a couple of days ago was back.

"I'm gonna puke." I groaned, rolling onto my front and attempting to climb to my feet, and failing because of the way the corridor was rocking back and forth. Somewhere behind me I heard a crackle of energy, a robotic squeal and then two blaster shots. I turned my head around, and promptly fell back to the ground. My vision was blurred as I watched the four people rush toward me.

"Woah, Carth. I didn't know you had a twin." I mumbled, before letting my head fall gently back onto the cool metal floor.

"Valery! Are you alright?"

I clutched at my forehead, squeezing my eyes shut, "No." I moaned.

"Stand aside, Carth." Suddenly there was a soft hand on my forehead and a feeling of immense relief flowed through me as the pain numbed and then slowly ebbed away.

The hand moved away and I laid there for a while longer before opening my eyes and blinking up at Bastila who was looking down at me with a stubborn look on her pointy-chinned face.

"I may be arrogant, but I am also very useful." She snapped, standing up and offering me her hand.

I took it, letting out a groan as she heaved me up, with more than a little help on my part. Once I was up I held onto her hand for a moment longer, staring into her eyes. And then, I nodded in thanks and a small, seemingly hopeful grin spread across her face and there was this weird twinkle in her eyes. "Thank you, Bastila." I squeezed her hand once and then let her go, limping slightly as we walked down the hall and stepped into the elevator.

The doors opened when we reached the top and Bastila stopped us before we opened the next doors.

"Be wary. Carth was right; there is a Dark Jedi here. You two should stay back and leave this to me."

Carth and I glanced at each other and then nodded. I stepped to the right, letting Bastila take the lead in the middle. She took out her lightsaber, breathed in deeply once and then opened the door.

The Sith Governor was a bald man wearing shining silver armor over dark blue robes. He sat cross legged on the floor in front of a massive computer system with more screens than I could count. As we entered, the Sith raised his head and in one deathly graceful movement, got to his feet. He turned on us in the same movement he reached out his hand and using the Force, I guess, called his weapon to him from where it was on a bench in the corner. Instead of the glowing red lightsaber I was expecting, the Governor held nothing but a double vibroblade.

"Who dares to break my meditation? You will pay for interrupting my… wait. I sense the Force is strong with you. Very strong." At first thought, it seemed obvious that he was talking to Bastila, seeing as she was the one with the Force and the lightsaber and all, but when I turned my attention fully on the Sith I found that his cold red eyes were trained on me. I blinked and glanced around, as if expecting someone else to be standing right beside or behind me. I found no one, of course.

"Who would have thought a Force Adept could be found on this insignificant planet?" His voice was smooth and accented, like all Sith seemed to be, but in the blink of an eye it turned harsh and arrogant, "But your talent is no match for a disciple of the Dark Side!"

"Turn away from the Dark Side. It won't lead you to anything but destruction."

The Governor tore his eyes from me and they landed on Bastila who had lit her saber and was staring intently at him. He snarled at her and rolled his eyes. "Spoken like a true drone of the Jedi Council. We Sith, however, have leaned to embrace the potential of the Dark Side. It is what gives us strength! This meeting," He smiled cruelly, "is a stroke of luck for me – my master will surely reward me with my lightsaber once I kill you!"

And then, he attacked. Me, of course, because I'm just that lucky. Before I knew what was happening, Bastila was there, blocking his attacks and forcing him back, away from Carth and me.

He moved to stand beside me as we watched the battle with wide eyes. I had to admit that I was a bit worried for Bastila. She was so small compared to the Sith and the power he had behind each of his attacks had her thin, perfect arms shaking under the pressure.

I don't know exactly how it happened, but suddenly the Sith was standing there, his hand outstretched and a snarl of victory on his face as Bastila flew through the air and slammed painfully against the far wall. I winced, my upper lip curling as the thudded reverberated around the room.

I stared at Bastila where she lay crumpled on the floor, expecting her to get up. Anytime now… The Sith Governor stalked toward her, his vibroblade tightly gripped in his clenched hand. He had the cruelest most satisfied look on his face. He was about a meter away from Bastila's now very obviously unconscious form when I realized that she wasn't getting up.

Without a second thought I threw myself forward and at the Sith, my arms above my head as I brought the blade down. A second before it sunk into his skull his head spun around and he lifted his vibroblade to meet mine; a shocked expression on his face. I brought back my blade and attack his side, but he blocked it, I faked that I was going for his head and then his side and he waved his double blade around, blocking the bare glances I had swung at him. I could see the panic, and the confusion on his face; I had well and truly caught the Sith Governor by surprise. I faked an attack on his side again and as his opposite arm reached across his body, the hand still firmly on the grip of the double blade, I quickly pulled back on the fake attack and slipped my blade beneath his shiny silver armor and through his stomach. I pulled it out and stepped back in time to see his shocked eyes go dull as he died. The body fell to the floor with a clank.

I found myself hurrying over to Bastila, who was, _conveniently_ waking up just now. She sat up and her eyes landed on the dead Governor, and then on me. I smirked down at her and offered a hand, which she took.

"I may be arrogant, but it's only because I'm so darn awesome."

Bastila rubbed the back of her head and I chuckled as she winced. "Hey, at least now we'll have matching lumps." Bastila chuckled weakly at that as Carth rolled his eyes.

"Come on you two."

We walked out of the Sith base as inconspicuously as possible and I noted with satisfaction that the sun was only just setting over the city. We got far enough away for comfort and I found that the stress and adrenaline had faded away.

"Alright gorgeous, we have the codes. Where to now?"

I shot him a sideways grin, "Back down to the Lower City. _Again."_


	10. 1-9

I slid into the empty booth, across from Canderous Ordo and shot him a toothy, charming smile. "Hello again, Canderous."

Canderous sat up straighter and raised an eyebrow at me, "I figured you'd be back. Neither one of us is getting off this planet unless we work together." I nodded in agreement, not taking my eyes off of his scarred face, "Now, I know the Sith base had a break in. I know it was you. I know you've got those departure codes we need. It's impressive how quick you were, too."

"Hey, I said I'd have them by night fall, and now here we are." I grinned crookedly at him.

He smirked, "That you did. So, what do you say? We join forces and I can get you inside Davik's base – and right to Ebon Hawk. We can go right now."

"Eager, are we?"

He chuckled, "Very much so."

Carth cleared his throat loudly, startling me. I looked at him and Bastila who stood to the side of the booth, Carth with his arms crossed tightly over his chest and Bastila with her hands behind her back, just casually.

"Oh, right. Canderous, Carth and Bastila, Carth and Bastila, Canderous of Ordo." I quickly introduced with a disinterested wave of my hand.

Canderous quickly looked them both up and down, seeming just as uninterested as I was and then turned back to me, "They your friends?" He asked like they weren't standing right there. I sighed and nodded, "Yep."

Canderous turned his head and looked over the two again, and then stopped on Carth; a spark of recognition in his steel grey eyes, "You're the boyfriend, huh? How's she treating you?"

Carth opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off, waving my hand dismissively while I chuckled, "Canderous, leave him alone. He's not my boyfriend."

"Huh, does that mean I still have a chance then?" He asked, still smirking.

I narrowed my eyes playfully and leaned forward, "How's about you get me inside Davik's estate and help us get off this rock and then maybe, just maybe, I'll think about it." I said in a soft voice, lowering my head so that I was looking up at him through my lashes.

He laughed softly, his grey eyes flickering to and from my lips which were tugging upward slightly in amusement, "Alright then, I'll hold you to that." I saw him glance up at Carth in the corner of his eye and I knew immediately that he was playing the same game I was.

There was no way he and I would have anything between us, he just wasn't my type. I, too, glanced at Carth whose arms were crossed tightly over his chest, a muscle in his jaw was sticking out and he was glaring very intently at the side of Canderous' head. Hmm, an interesting development. I wondered what was going on in the Cripple's mind for him to glare at Canderous so spitefully…

Canderous chuckled before he leaned back slightly and his face turned slightly more serious, "Davik's always looking to recruit new talent. I'll tell him how you won that swoop races with flying colours and mention that you're interested in working for the Exchange. I'll say I brought you in so he could check you out. He'll have you stay at his estate for a couple days while he runs some background checks on you – that's standard procedure."

Our conversation was interrupted by a clearly disapproving Bastila. "This is too risky. We should find another way." She snapped.

Canderous leant away from me and turned his head to her, looking as frustrated as I felt. "You got another plan, sister? Or are you just objecting 'cause you didn't think of it?" He asked, sarcastically.

Bastila blinked, looking annoyed. "No, I… don't have another plan. I would rather not place my life in your hands, however."

Canderous sent her a sarcastic smirk, "I can say the same about you. That makes us even. Fortunately we both want to get off this rock, right?" He turned back to me, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes.

I, however didn't try to. "Right, and you don't have to worry, Bastila 'cause you're not coming."

"Again? Did you not learn from last time that you need me?" She held back a groan of frustration.

"Uh, Davik Kang is a fracking _crime lord_ who works for the _Exchange_. I'd rather you weren't being put on the galactic slave market after we only just got you back, thanks." I told her. "Besides," I perked up with an idea, "Davik respects power, right?" I nodded to Canderous. "And I ask you; what creature has more power than a Wookiee?"

Canderous raised an eyebrow, "You have a Wookiee friend?"

I beamed proudly and nodded, "I have a Wookiee friend."

"Well, by all means, bring him along. So, while Davik's checking you out, we steal the Ebon Hawk and escape Taris. Come on – I've got an air speeder nearby to take us to Davik's estate. The sooner we're off Taris the better!"

We both got up and we all followed him out of the cantina. I dug through my pockets for my com-link. "Mission? Come in, Mission."

"Wha? Huh, oh, hey Val. What's up?"

"Hey, I need Zaalbar to help me with something, where are you guys?"

"Uhhh…" The tone of her voice told me that I probably didn't want to know, and the screaming and cheering in the background just confirmed it.

I sighed, "Look, it doesn't matter, can you get to the Uppercity cantina, like, now?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Five minutes." She promised.

"Okay, see you soon." I pocketed the com-link and walked over to Canderous and the others who were standing there quite reluctantly. Canderous looked cool as a breeze, but the Carth and Bastila looked like their heads would blow up any second. I ignored them as we stood there in silence, waiting. Like she promised, no more than five minutes later Zaalbar and Mission came wandering up. I stood up from where I was leaning against a crate and smiled my welcoming.

"Good, you're here." I looked up at Zaalbar inquiringly, "I need your skills and protection, Zaalbar, my friend. We're going to the estate of Davik Kang to steal his ship." I told him, my voice respectful as always –to him, at least – Zaalbar gave out a little cry of agreement and I beamed. "Good. Mission, you, Bastila and Carth should head back to the apartment and pack everything up so it's all ready to go. Also, take this," I dug in my pockets for the thousand and a bit credits I had scummed off of everyone before, "and buy as many long-life food packs you can, throw in a couple of medpacs too, just in case."

She took the credits and nodded, "Good luck, Val. You take care of Big Z and Big Z you take care of Val, okay? We'll have everything ready to go by the time you get back."

I smiled and squeezed her shoulder affectionately, "Good on you, Mission. See you soon." I turned to look at Carth and Bastila. "No goodbyes?" I asked.

"Good luck, gorgeous."

"Yes, and may the Force be with you."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "Yeah, 'cause that'll help." Maybe now that I'm away they'll be able to have that hot, steamy monkey sex they so wanted to have with each other. I rolled my eyes and walked with Canderous and Zaalbar to the waiting speeder.

* * *

We reached Davik's estate in little under a half-hour. I stood beside Zaalbar in silence as Canderous spoke to a pair of guard looking guys. He looked down at the two humanoid aliens and said something that made their eyes widen and them both step back, nodding furiously. Canderous motioned for us to come over with a smirk, and then we were in. The guard guys led us through corridor after corridor until we reached a massive, high-roofed, square shaped room with chairs lining the walls and what looked like a throne in the middle. Sitting in it was a grey-haired balding aging man with really heavy wrinkles, bright blue eyes and a terribly unshaven face, wearing purple armor. Standing near him was the short white-hatted midget I recognized as Calo Nord. They both looked up as we three walked into the room, the guards having stopped at the door before scurrying back off to their posts. Davik gazed steadily at Canderous before his eyes traveled slowly across to Zaalbar, and then down to me. I recognized the foul glimmer in his eye and fought not to punch him out. He stood and stepped down from the raised platform his throne was placed upon.

"Greetings." His strangely accented voice echoed around the huge room.

"Davik." Canderous greeted, sounding just a tad hostile. For a Mandalorian. I nodded slightly.

"Ah, Canderous – I see you have brought someone with you. Most intriguing, if I do say so myself. You usually travel alone." He stopped about a meter in front of us and let his eyes roam my figure. I kept my chin up and fought the snarl from my face. He looked at Canderous with an amused raised eyebrow, and I didn't have to try very hard to figure what he was silently implying.

Calo Nord stepped up to our right of Davik, slightly behind him, though and glared at Canderous through his goggles. "It's not like you to take on _partners_, Canderous. You're getting soft."

Actually, if I was his partner, wouldn't it be more correct to say that he was getting _hard?_ I thought. Immediately, I brought my hand to my mouth and looked away, trying my very hardest not to burst out laughing at my perverted thoughts. I was so gross.

"Watch yourself, Calo. You may be the newest kath hound in the pack, but you aren't top dog yet!" Canderous warned.

I pressed my hand harder to my mouth, barely muffling the escaping giggles. Oh yes. These were manly men.

I couldn't look at either of them now, but I imagined that their faces were bright red and they both had steam coming out of their ears and were both shooting fire out of their eyes because Davik felt the need to intervene. "Enough! I won't have my two top men killing each other – that's not good business. I'm sure Canderous has an explanation as to why he's not working solo anymore." He looked enquiringly at the Mandalorian.

"This is a special case, Davik. I ran into someone the Exchange might want to recruit. You may have heard something of her exploits already." Canderous moved slightly to the side and I stepped up to stand beside him.

Davik's disgusting lusty blue eyes ran across my face and then widened in recognition. I took this time to notice a strange, tribal looking tattoo on his right temple. Weird. "Ah, yes – now I recognize the lady. You're the woman who won the big swoop race. Very impressive. Very impressive…" Was the old perv talking about my winning the race or my breasts? I couldn't tell. Dirty old man. "Also impressive was your display in the rather heated battle afterward."

I forced a casual smile onto my face and swallowed the bile in my throat. "Thank you. It was nothing I couldn't handle. It's good to finally meet you, Davik. I am Valery Mason and this is my loyal friend, Zaalbar." I introduced, turning to look at the Wookiee.

Davik raised an eyebrow at Zaalbar and then nodded in approval and acknowledgement. "You know, Canderous was right. The Exchange is always looking for new talent. You could have a bright future in our organization. With a recommendation from Canderous – and a thorough background check – you could become part of the Exchange. Many would kill to prove themselves worthy of this honor."

I blinked up at him, "Your offer intrigues me, Davik."

He shot me a dirty smirk, "Of course it does. Come with me – I will give you a tour of my operations. I'm certain you'll be most impressed."

To tell the truth, I couldn't even concentrate on anything Davik was saying or showing us because the disgusting man's hand had settled itself permanently on my lower back as he led me around and was gradually travelling lower and lower. After an hour I thought that I would keel over and die if I continued to resist breaking his hand and then his neck as well as I was. I had gone through it over and over in my mind; killing Davik Kang in a multitude of different ways.

And then he was unlocking a thick set of doors and natural air blew over me and filled my lungs. We stepped out into a hanger and my eyebrows shot to the sky as I took in the lone ship sitting there.

Finally, Davik let go of my ass and walked forward, placing his hands on his hips and grinning lovingly up at the ship.

"Ah, there she is – the Ebon Hawk. My pride and joy; the fastest ship in the Outer Rim! Note the state of the art security system I've had installed to protect her."

I glanced at Canderous, half-expecting to do that thing that me and Carth always do when I look at him and he just happens to glance at me at the same time and there's this moment where we seem to know exactly what the other is thinking. But he didn't. "Definitely noted." I muttered under my breath, looking away from the Mandalorian.

"The shields are completely impregnable. Nobody can get past them without the codes to try and steal my baby. Unfortunately, the Sith military blockade has grounded my vessel." He said that with a rather pissed off tone. "The Ebon Hawk can outrun any vessel in the galaxy, but even she isn't fast enough to avoid the auto-targeting laser cannons of the Sith fleet.

I am, of course, working on acquiring the Sith departure codes so that I may come and go as I please. However, progress has been slow…" Meaning, his 2,000 credits worth of a custom built astromech droid has mysteriously gone missing and he's in the process of trying to A) get a new one made, and/or B) hunt down the sad and soon to be sorry son of a bitch who stole it from him—Me.

Apparently the hanger was the last part of the tour because Davik and Calo Nord were leading us back down the corridor to the guest quarters. Davik opened a room and motioned for us to go in. I did so cautiously, scanning around for any hidden cameras or traps. Finding none, I turned around to face Davik, who had been oh-so-subtly staring at my ass. Canderous cleared his throat and Davik looked up, smirking and not even trying to cover up what he had been doing.

"These will be your accommodations. The slave quarters are just down the hall. If you need anything during your stay – food, a massage – feel free to call upon their services. If all goes well with your background check you will be invited to join the Exchange. I'd advise you to accept the offer when it comes – or suffer the dire consequences of refusal."

I fluttered my eyelids slightly, and flirtatiously rolled my eyes whilst chanting in my head; Don't throw up. Don't throw up. Do not throw up. "Do you honestly think that I would have come here at all if I wasn't all for joining you and your organization? I'm looking forward to working with you, Davik."

"And I with you." Oh my god, vomit. "You will stay in these rooms as my guests for the next few days; I will not accept no for an answer. Feel free to visit the slave quarters at any time during your stay. I must warn you that if you are found anywhere outside the guest wing during your stay – or if you bother my other guests – my security forces will deal with you most harshly." He said, his voice all dark and foreboding. Then it lightened, "I will return after the investigation into your background is complete. Until then, make yourself comfortable. Come, Calo, let us leave our guests in peace."

And with that, he turned and walked out of the room. Calo Nord stood there and glared straight at Canderous for a moment longer and then followed him like a good little puppy. The doors slid shut behind them.

"Urgh. Ergh. Yuck. Blergh. I'm gonna puke. That guy… Ugh. I just wanna… Gah!" I shook my head, shuddering and cringing and just wanting to take a scalding hot shower, burn my clothes and scrub my skin right off.

"You really laid it on thick there." Canderous chuckled.

"It was truly nauseating to watch." Zaalbar grimaced.

I shuddered, "Blerk."

Canderous chuckled again, "Okay, we're inside. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to get past the Ebon Hawk's security system then we can get the rest of your group and get off this planet!"

"Good idea. Great, in fact. But whose gonna know the bypass codes?"

"We'll just have to ask around. We'll find them."

"Alrighty. Let's get this done."

* * *

Okay so, yes. The first place I led Zaalbar and Canderous was the slave quarters and the first thing I did there was go straight up to a tall, green Twi'lek and ask for a massage. At the two boys' protests I told them over my shoulder, "Just trust me, alright? I'm on it. Relax."

I followed the Twi'lek slave into the massage room at the back and stripped down, pulling a soft, white towel around me and laying front down on warm table. I heard the small gasp of shock as the guy turned around to face me, rubbing his hands with lotion. My muscles clenched tightly as I thought of what he was looking at; the multitude of long, jagged scars that covered my back. Not from years of abuse, but years of battle wounds and training.

Then his hands were on me and I was reduced to a limp puddle of mush. He worked out all the pain from my neck and my shoulders, arms and back; all the stiffness from the constant walking and running and fighting and stress that came with it. It all just melted away into the heavily vanilla scented air.

"So," I finally sighed dreamily, "What's been going on around here recently?"

"Well, none of us are allowed to leave the slave quarters on pain of death so we only know what we hear from Davik's guests."

"Hmm?" I sighed, gently urging him to go on.

He sighed, "Recently they've all been talking about poor Hudrow. He was caught trying to steal some spice from the lab. Normally Hudrow is allowerd to get away with things like that because he's Davik's personal pilot for the Ebon Hawk. But since the Sith have grounded every ship on the planet, Hudrow doesn't get any more special treatment. They've locked him up in Davik's torture chambers."

"That's terrible. Poor guy."

"Yes. Davik isn't known for his mercy." Ten more minutes of pure bliss and the Twi'lek was stepping away to wash his hands. I sat up slowly, ready to fall asleep; every single muscle in my body completely relaxed. The continual hum of soft, relaxing music wasn't helping my drowsy state at all. The Twi'lek man left the room as I pulled on my clothes with a mournful sigh.

"Guess it's back to work then." I thanked the Twi'lek most graciously and he seemed to glow at my praise, asking me politely to mention it to Davik. Sure. Whatever.

I quickly told Canderous and Zaalbar what I knew in a quiet, soft, relaxed voice before they could bite my head off and they bit their tongues.

So then, I proceeded to go through everyone's rooms and loot all their stuff whilst somehow managing to keep them all happy. I even managed to stay on the good side of this dark-skinned guy whose night with a green Twi'lek slave girl I ruined. I'm just that good.

We walked through the throne room as I struggled to remember where Davik had nonchalantly waved his hand at the door to the torture chambers, although he had so convincingly called it just another guest room. It was somewhere in a westerly direction, I thought.

One thing I really did notice as we jogged through Davik's estate, killing off his guards here and there was how much purple there was around the place. Isn't purple a homosexual colour? Or is it just purple? I couldn't imagine Davik being a homosexual. Actually, no. I could. Vomit.

As we headed west I managed to score a whole 5 credits off of this Tarisian self-inflated wind-bagged noble who actually brought the story I made up on the spot about me being a guard whom Davik had ordered to check up on him. What an idiot. I really did not like nobles. I ended up using my stealth field generator and stealing everything he had from the footlockers in his room. Take that!

We found the torture chamber in that same hall and after almost being killed by some damn torture droids, we freed Hudrow. The guy all but forced the codes into my datapad. Pushy much? And then he ran for it.

"Alright. We've got what we came for. We should get going."

Several wrong turns later we were standing at the hanger bay doors. I walked to the security terminal across the room and disabled the hanger security.

"Easy as pie."

We walked through the doors and the world began crashing down. Metal creaked, dust and bits of crumbled stone fell from the roof as deafening and very close together explosions began sounding throughout the hanger. I looked wide eyed and open mouthed to the right, at the city behind the Ebon Hawk and watched as blast after blast hit the surface and tall buildings of Taris.

"What the hell is happening?" I gasped.

"Damn those Sith – they're bombing the whole planet!" All of our heads turned to see Davik and Calo Nord running over toward the ship from the opposite end of the hanger. There must be another door over there or something. "I knew they'd turn on us sooner or…" He caught sight of us and stopped. "Well, look what we have here! Thieves in the hanger."

I scoffed. "We're not stealing it. We just wanted to borrow her for a bit." I lied with a sarcastic grin.

"So, you figured you'd just steal my ship for your get-away and leave me high and dry while the Sith turn the planet into dust. _Sorry_! But that ain't gonna happen!"

Calo Nord stepped forward and drew his blasters. We drew our own weapons, ready for his attack. "I'll take care of them, Davik. I've been looking forward to this for a long time." He was so obviously talking about Canderous. We could be mud patties on a leaf for all he cared.

"Make it quick, Calo. The Sith mean business. If we don't get our ship and find somewhere safe, the bombs they're dropping will kill us all!"

The fight was a pretty quick one actually. They shot a couple of bolts at us; we shot a few toward them. And then I threw a frag grenade and that was it; Davik Kang was dead.

We turned our full attention to Calo Nord who got out what looked like a trigger for a bomb and held it up warningly for all of us to see. We froze.

"You may have me outnumbered and outgunned, but if I'm going down I'm taking all you with me! This thermal detonator will blow us all to bits!" An explosion sounded and it felt as if the very earth beneath our feet was shaking. Bits of rock and metal that weren't very crumbled at all fell around us and I hunched down; covering my head a pile of white rock dust fell straight down from the roof and onto me. It covered my hair, my shoulders, and my back. I managed to keep most of it off my face though. Beside me, I heard Zaalbar cry out and looking I saw that he was in the same situation I was.

"Argh! Damn those Sith! They'll bring this whole hangar down around our ears!"

Then, just to add the irony of the situation; this massive collection of metal rafter-looking bits and other poles disconnected from the roof and fell straight onto Calo Nord, crushing him.

"Good on ya, sneaky-ass roof." I saluted it, and then Canderous, Zaalbar and I –after looting everything from Davik Kang's lifeless corpse, of course – ran onto the Ebon Hawk.

"Let's get this ship fired up. We'll pick up the rest of your friends and then we have to get off this planet!"

I managed to pilot the Ebon Hawk out of the hangar and about a quarter of the way to the apartments where I had told Mission to meet us before Canderous was forced to take over because of the fact that I simply could not see through my tears.

I sat in the co-pilot seat and watched as the night sky turned red and black with fire and ash, and the tall, beautiful, shiny towers of Taris fell. There were billions beyond billions of people of Taris, and the Sith were going to kill them all. All those people I passed on the street; all the people I talked to, that I met…

"Oh my god…" I whispered, clenching my eyes shut. It wasn't the knowledge of their deaths that had brought me to tears, no, somehow, I was feeling it; I was _feeling_ their fear and their pain, hearing their screams, seeing the hopelessness in their hearts. The screams were growing louder and louder and louder. I clutched at my head, tears streaming down my face and groaned. I could feel Canderous' eyes on me, asking if I was alright. I just shook my head, couldn't he hear them too? Couldn't he feel their suffering?

I felt the ship lower and then stop for a moment; heard several familiar voices, and then felt the ship moving up, up, up…

I moved, well, _fell_ out of the seat when Carth stood behind me and I went and sat against the wall, still clutching my head. For the moment, I was ignored by all. Bastila was telling Carth to plot a course for Dantooine, and then there was a frantic beeping noise and Carth was yelling 'Incoming fighters!' and Bastila was telling someone to go to the gun turrets…

I found myself moving without really thinking or being aware of what I was doing at all. I jogged to the ladder to the turret and flew up it, wiping my eyes on my sleeve and sniffling as I went. I was hardly conscious as I murdered the five Sith pilots of the fighters. Once they were dead, I sat back and watched as we jumped into hyperspace. I just… stared.

However long it was I sat there later, I was climbing down the ladder, feeling more in control of myself. I was forcing myself to accept that what had just happened had really just happened. All those people had just died. I wiped my hands down my face as I shuffled through the ship and back to the cockpit where Bastila and Carth were sitting in the chairs in silence, they both swiveled around as they heard me walk in. I kept my eyes down, and concentrated very hard on not bursting into tears.

"Are you alright, beautiful?"

I didn't look up. My voice was hollow, "I'm not answering that."

"You felt them, didn't you? You felt their pain; their fear—"

I clenched my teeth painfully together as my hands curled into tight, shaky fists. "Shut up, Bastila." I whispered harshly and then I sighed, and moved to the side before collapsing to the floor and holding my head in my hands as I leant my back against the wall. My hands shook fiercely as I ran them through my hair. "I… I felt it. I felt it all. I-I heard it, and saw it and _felt_ it. I felt them, _dying_. What is this?" I looked up to Bastila who had moved to kneel beside me, with the wide, fearful eyes of a child. She gazed down at me gently, like a real Jedi would.

"It is the Force, flowing through you strong and true."

"But I don't want it in me." I whispered.

"It's not a choice you can make, Valery. Just trust in it; trust in yourself. I will talk to the Jedi Council on Dantooine to see if there is any way to help you, but until then, I suggest you just try to relax and come to terms with what has happened. On Dantooine we can get some more supplies and recuperate. The Academy is a place of mental and spiritual healing; something we could all use after what we've been through.

"You're right. It's not easy to witness the annihilation of an entire planet. Frack, I doubt there was a building left standing over two stories high! The Sith turned the entire planet into one big pile of rubble. I know Mission must be taking it pretty hard…" Carth sighed.

"Mission?" I looked at Bastila in confusion.

"It was her home world, Valery. And now it's gone."

"Oh, Force. I gotta go talk to her." Without any more thoughts toward me and my apparent Force sensitivity, I clambered to my feet and walked out of the cockpit. It wasn't hard to find Mission. She was in the crew quarters near the back of the ship, in the corner, sobbing in Zaalbar's arms. "Mission…" I went over and knelt beside them both, noticing the pain in Zaalbar's eyes as he held his friend. I bit my lip and reached out to put one hand on Mission's trembling blue shoulder.

"I… I just can't… believe it's gone! It's all gone! Every—everything I've ever known… just _gone."_

"Hey," I murmured to her, "Not everything. Zaalbar's still here, right? He's still with you. You got him. You've always had him."

She sniffled wetly, "Yeah, I know but he's not Taris!"

"No, he's not. But he's still home, right? 'Home is where the heart is'; you ever heard that saying before?" I asked. She slowly nodded her head. "Yeah? Mission, Taris may be gone but the people who love you are still here. We'll always be here, 'kay?"

"Yeah," She sniffed, "I know, but still…"

"I know… I know…" I sat there on the cold ground next to the two old friends and cried theirs and my own grief alongside them. It was that moment that I knew there was no way I could ditch them now. I knew I was stuck with them for as long as they wanted me.


	11. 2-1

**Act 2: Dantooine**

Once I felt stronger; calmer and in complete control of my thoughts and emotions again, I washed the night's grime away and climbed into the bed below Mission's. I fell into a troubled, yet dreamless sleep.

I woke extremely early the next morning to Mission's fresh wave of grief and I held her as she sobbed. Her sobs turned to cries, and then to whimpers and then she fell back asleep, her head in my lap. I scooped up the light girl and heaved her onto my bed before tucking her in. I looked down at her tear-streaked face with empathy, and I sighed heavily, reaching down to wipe her face clean of tears before turning and leaving the room.

I took a deep breath before I stepped into the cockpit where Bastila and Carth were already up and talking quietly. I frowned at them. It was five o'clock in the morning for Force sake. Had they been here together alone all night?

I sniffed the air suspiciously and relaxed a little when I smelled nothing but sweat and metal.

I came up and stood in the middle beside the two of them and looked out the cockpit's wide window. I saw a pale coloured world growing closer and closer as we traveled toward it.

Bastila and Carth swiveled in their pilot chairs to take in my sunken eyes and tear stained shirt. Bastila raised an eyebrow. I didn't even glance at either of them as I concentrated on keeping that calm, in-control feeling. I concentrated on becoming myself again, but I knew it'd take a while.

"Sorry princess. We can't all look like beauty queens when we wake up in the early morn." I drawled sarcastically. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't take as long as I thought.

"You know very well I wasn't thinking any such thing. How is Mission?"

I gestured to my shirt and the wet patches of tears and snot there, "That's a dumb question, Jedi."

Bastila sighed and swiveled back around to face the approaching planet. "She will find a way to come to terms with her grief. She is stronger than she appears. We just need to give her time."

I slowly nodded in agreement.

Bastila and Carth started pressing buttons here and there as we entered the planet's atmosphere. At first I was confused. Dantooine was a farming planet, covered in tall, yellow dry grass and the occasional foresty-looking bit, but it didn't at all look like a planet a Jedi Academy would be found upon. Then we saw it. It was small, but big enough. The main building was rounded and had long sectors running from it, attaching it to the other sectors of the complex. Carth carefully navigated us down to land in what looked more like a courtyard than a landing bay and then proceeded to fire down the engines. We were left in silence.

"Dantooine… it seems like a lifetime since I last set foot on her surface, though in truth it has only been a few months. We should be safe from Malak here… for now, at least. There are many Jedi here, including several of the most powerful Masters of the Order. There is great strength within this place."

She got swiftly to her feet. "Now I must go speak with the Council. I need their advice on…" She glanced at me in the corner of her eye, and a small frown of confusion flickered on my face, "recent developments. I will see you both later." And then, she left. I glanced at Onasi, who had begun to open his mouth to speak with me but I walked out before he could. There was no way I could take any of his crap right now.

Bastila took _ages –Beyond _ages—to talk to her stupid council. While we waited I explored every nook and cranny of the Ebon Hawk, brought a cool looking battle armor that was too heavy for me to wear and wasted the rest of my credits on upgrades for my little T3. I left the shop and found Carth and Bastila standing there in front of the Ebon Hawk chatting like old friends…and standing far too close. Bastards. They'd had sex, I just knew it.

I walked out of the shop with my arms full of boxes filled with this and that and stopped beside them. I watched with a disgusted curl of my lip as Bastila giggled –giggled!—at something Carth had said. I cleared my throat and both heads turned toward me. I looked at them both with raised eyebrows, acting completely innocent.

"Finally finished are you?" I asked Bastila.

She glanced at Carth, a faint pink flush on her pale cheeks, and then cleared her own throat. "Not exactly. I have spoken briefly with the Council; they request an audience with you. We should go at once."

Carth and I did our thing where we both look at each other at the same time, with the same expression, and I was glad we still had that to ourselves at least. At least Bastila hadn't stolen that from me too.

"An audience with the Jedi Council?" Carth asked, surprised and –whadda you know?—suspicious. "That's pretty unusual for someone who isn't even a Jedi. What's this about, Bastila?"

Oh, Force. Just listening to him say her name… Vomit. "I'm sorry, Carth, but I cannot tell you. All I ask is that you trust in the Force and the wisdom of the Council."

"Well, I don't like being left out of the loop, but I'm not looking to get you in any trouble with the Jedi Masters. We'll do things your way for a while." Of _course_ we will.

"Come, they are expecting us. I will lead you to the Council chambers."

"Yeah, I'll just put these…" I watched as Bastila and Carth turned and walked off down this ramp to a door that I apparently wasn't allowed through until now. My eyes narrowed and I turned around, stomping up the ramp to the Hawk and went to the garage where Canderous liked hanging out. I dumped all of the stuff onto the workbench and shot him a small smile where he stood tinkering with something on the swoop bike I still had trouble believing Gadon Thek had actually given us. I also had trouble comprehending how the heck they got the thing onto the ship.

"I gotta go speak to the Jedi Council, or something. I should be back soon, 'kay?"

Canderous grunted in acknowledgement and I chuckled, knowing that that was all I was getting from him. "See ya, Candy-Man."

I ran, ducking just before the wrench hit the wall behind where my head had just been. I fled from the ship, giggling as I went.

The Twi'lek guy let me through the door and I walked in, staring at each and every funnily dressed man and woman I passed. Were they seriously all Jedi?

I made it to this beautiful little garden thing with a nice tree in the middle and green grass on the sides and comfy looking benches, and then this crazy chick came out of nowhere and started yelling at me.

"You there! Padawan! Why are you not wearing the customary robes of the Jedi? Do you mock the honoured traditions of our Order?"

I blinked at her angry yet creepily calm face. "Huh?"

"Where are your robes, Padawan?"

"What? What the hell's a Padawan? Who are you, you rude, loud-mouthed _schutta_?"

She bristled at the insult. So she should. "I am Belaya. I have come here to further my training in the ways of the Force. Many Jedi come here to train under Master Zhar. Any who belong to the Order should surely know this. You must be neglecting your studies, Padawan."

"You must be neglecting your common thought usage. I ain't no Jedi. I literally just got here with Bastila Shan. You know? The oh-so-great Jedi princess?"

Belaya- bitch blinked. "Bastila? I have heard of her. They say she has already mastered the art of Battle Meditation, remarkable in one so young. Though I have heard she has a foolish pride in her own talents."

"Just as you have a foolish pride in your own importance, Miss Everyone-knows-who-I-am-and-why-I'm-here."

"Your tone is harsh and your stance defensive whilst also aggressive. You claim you are not a Padawan. I find this hard to believe. The Force is strong within you. I can feel its presence." Ooh, touchy subject, Belaya-bitch. Watch yourself, now. "If this is some type of jest, it is in very poor taste. The Jedi Order is not a subject for jokes."

"Neither is your tiny brain. You might wanna get someone to check that it is still there at all." I told her. "Now, if you'll excuse me I didn't come here to be scolded by you. I am not a Jedi or a Padawan or whatever and I will never wear that ugly outfit of yours. Not while I'm still breathing, at least. Now if you'll just quit with the assumptions and bad-judgement making and let me by, I will bid you good day." I shoved past her and walked off toward where I was guessing the Council chambers would be, muttering profanities at the Jedi under my breath.

A couple wrong turns and several back-tracks later I came across Carth who was leaning against the wall beside an open door that led to a large round room. He straightened up as I came closer and let out a breath of relief.

"Finally! Where have you been?"

"Some Jedi chick came out of nowhere and tried to bite my head off so I told her what's what and then I got lost a couple of times and now here I am!" I gave him a fake enthusiastic, happy grin that didn't reach my eyes.

Carth shook his head, his eyes amused. "You make friends wherever you go, don't you?" He chuckled as I shrugged in a 'what are you gonna do?' way. "Well, they're waiting for you inside."

"Awesome. Great. Fantastic. I'm _so_ looking forward to this." I grumbled sarcastically, rolling my eyes. Then, I took a deep breath, hardened my eyes and my will and walked inside.

* * *

I stormed out of the Council chambers, straight past Carth and all the way back to the Ebon Hawk. That anger was back – the same anger from Taris; from when I had gone off at that racist old man. My hands clenched and unclenched as I stomped along, ignoring the calls from Carth and Bastila and the looks from people around me. The _Jedi_.

"I cannot _believe _them. I cannot believe the _nerve_ of those people! As if I would _ever _become one of them! One of_ her_!" I hissed under my breath. I stomped up the Ebon Hawk boarding ramp, through the Hawk herself and then went and locked myself in the cargo hold. Then, I let it all out.

"Jedi?! A Jedi?! Those self-absorbed, arrogant, cocky bastards! I will never become one of them! I swear it! They practically _ordered_ it! There was no questions, no asking _me_; the person whose life they are trying to ruin! And what the hell was all that about Revan? And my wild, untamed Force powers? Bullshit! I think I would notice if I were some sort of mystical, ass-butted, arrogant _freak_! Frack, it was all I could do to lie to that bastard just so I could the hell out of there without blowing up at them all! And the idiot fell for it! He actually _fell_ for it!" I ditched a chunk of metal that had once been part of a locker at the wall and then fell against it, laughter bubbling out of me hysterically.

"Of _course_, great _Jedi_. I will learn your ways and follow the _light_!" I said in a sarcastic, mocking tone. "How messed up and corrupt would you have to be to actually swallow _that_?"

I sobered and sighed, and sat there in the wreck of what was left of the cargo hold's cargo, completely silent.

There was one thing that I heard during that meeting that confused me, rather than infuriate me.

_'__Are you certain that Revan is truly dead? What if we undertake to train this woman and the Dark Lord should return?'_

I didn't understand. Revan was dead. _Dead. _Bastila herself had killed him, but thinking back to that first night with her on Taris, she hadn't seemed very assured that she had.

"Useless fracking Jedi can't even kill one lousy Dark Lord… Why would anyone put their faith in them? They're not gonna win against Malak. They got no chance. And I never play for the losing side, because, hey… I don't wanna lose. I like my life. Well,_ liked_ it. Now it's all just gone to hell. Damn Republic. Damn Onasi. Damn Bastila. Damn the Jedi. Damn them all. I should be a hermit…"

That was the last thing I remember saying before I fell on my side and fell fast asleep.


	12. 2-2

**Thank you to AscensionoftheSky and darkK88 for reviewing! I'm glad that you - and hopefully the other 40 of you anonymous darlings - are enjoying this story! **

* * *

"Ohhhh…." I groaned as I limped down the ramp with one hand pressing against my lower back and the other trying to get some feeling in its shoulder.

Damn, I had the worst dream last night. There was this tall, bald guy I recognized as Darth Malak, and this dark robed figure with a low hood and a mask. Darth Revan –the maybe-dead guy.

He had been pacing in front of this door and Malak had been doubting and asking if whatever they were doing was really worth throwing everything away for. Revan got annoyed and finally opened this old tomb door and walked inside; head held high and shoulders back. His actual walk, though, seemed rather predatory.

Then there was this whirring noise and a weird glowy thingy and then I woke up, feeling like I was going to vomit and/or die as I found myself lying in the most awkward position on the cold, hard floor of the cargo hold.

I put a hand to my left eye and rubbed the sleep out of it and then moved it to my temple, trying to also rub away the throbbing headache there.

I took a deep breath of fresh air and closed my eyes whilst letting my head tilt back as I stood there just breathing at the bottom of the ramp.

I moved to the side, and did a few stretches, wishing that that twi'lek slave of Davik's was still alive and could come massage the pain from all of my muscles. God, that massage was so good. He had really known what he was doing.

I rolled my shoulders, trying to loosen them up a bit.

"Hey, you're up."

I glanced at Carth before pulling my arm over my head and putting pressure on my elbow with my other hand, stretching my side and ignoring how it made the front of my shirt ride up. "Yep."

"Are you feeling better? You were pretty upset yesterday."

I chuckled at the understatement. "Not particularly."

"Well, you're not still locked in the cargo hold, screaming and smashing things so you must be a little bit better." I shrugged at that, not looking at him. He took the hint and changed the subject.

"So Bastila came out earlier looking like she saw a ghost. She didn't seem very well. Before she left she mentioned that you should go to the Council chambers when you cooled down a bit. She sounded pretty urgent."

I scoffed, "She actually expected me to back there after yesterday?"

"It sounds important, gorgeous. I think you should hear them out."

"Yes, well it's all good and well for _you_ to say that. You're not the one this cult of calm freaks is trying to convert."

"Wait, that's what this is about? They want you to become a Jedi?"

"They, like Bastila, don't believe that I can be as awesome and successful as I am without drawing massive amounts of energy from the Force. It's like looking at how good of a shooter you are and saying it's not because you've spent the last however many years fighting wars and practicing; it's because of some invisible power helping you. It's like accusing someone of cheating. Which is just plain rude."

"Well, just refuse to join them."

"They haven't exactly given me any choice in the matter, Carth. They're arrogant dickheads who think that they can have whatever they want just because they can swing a glowing stick around and push the air toward people."

"Go tell them that, then. Tell them you don't want anything to do with them or their Order and then we can be on our way back to the Republic."

"Haha, I doubt it'll be that easy."

And guess what? It wasn't.

* * *

"Ah. Valery, Bastila has told us of a most unusual development. She claims you and she have shared a dream, a vision of Malak and Revan in the ancient ruins here on Dantooine. These ruins have long been known to us, but we believed them to be merely burial mounds. Perhaps they are more than we first suspected, if Revan and Malak found something there." I faltered in my step as I approached them and looked at Bastila, alarmed. Shared a dream? She saw that too? What the hell?

"Wait, _what_?" I snapped.

"Bastila says that she felt your presence within the dream. The presence she has felt within you ever since—"

"Master Vandar!" Vrook suddenly interrupted. Vandar blinked his wide eyes and closed his mouth, and then opened it again,

"…Ever since Taris. It is not unknown for this to happen between two people strong in the Force."

I narrowed my eyes, "Wait, go back." I glared at Vandar, "What were you really gonna say? What's going on here?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned about." Vrook said sharply. I turned on him.

"Well clearly it is, seeing as it's me and _my_ life that you're talking about and trying to take control of!" I snapped, glaring furiously at him. And there was that anger again… I blinked and turned my head away, taking several deep breaths; willing it away, willing my calm.

I reached it, and looked back up to the Council who were all staring at me in what seemed to be shock.

"Now, what are you saying; Bastila and I shared a dream? How is that possible?"

"…B-Bastila has described the shared dream to the Council in great detail. We feel it is more than a dream. It is a vision. The Force is acting through you as it acts through Bastila." Vandar said.

"Do you always talk about yourselves in third person? And why am I having visions now? How do I stop them?"

Then, the pink –haha—twi'lek piped up, "You and Bastila share a powerful connection to the Force… and each other. This is not unheard of. Connections often form between Master and student, but rarely does a bond develop so quickly."

Then Vandar poked in again, the attention-seeking little wart, "Whatever dangers may lie ahead, we cannot ignore the destiny that has brought you and Bastila here to us. Together."

I rose a finger, a sarcastic smile on my face, "Ah, but _I_ can, and I will. I will not stay here. I will not become a Jedi. And none of you can stop me." And with that, I turned around and began to walk toward the door.

"Valery! You and Bastila are linked, as is your fate to hers. Together, you two may be able to stop Darth Malak and the Sith!" Vandar called to my back. I stopped and spun around a patronizing look on my face,

"Why is it that you are trying to put the fate of the universe on a young Padawan's and an old smuggler's shoulders, huh? Are you really that incapable of, oh, I dunno… Maybe, doing it _yourselves_?" I asked them, "Honestly, you're all apparently some of the most powerful Jedi on the Order, yet when is the last time you actually fought anyone with those glow-sticks of yours? When is the last time you actually stepped into the real world and its wars? Have you ever _been _in the real world, or have you just heard about it and seen it on holovids?"

"We have seen more battle than you can imagine. And remember that not all battles are physical and mental combat. Politics and negotiations are just as important."

"Politics hardly mean shit in the real world, mate. Goodbye."

"Valery! Mission's world was destroyed by Darth Malak. Billions of people were killed. You have the chance to stop him, to stop the Sith and all the murders and atrocities they commit. Are you really going to turn your back on that opportunity?" Bastila called.

I didn't look back, "It's not my problem, princess. And as I recall, _you _were the reason that Darth Malak ordered Taris destroyed. All those people died because of you. Mission lost her planet because of you. You and your Order. Malak's _your_ problem. Not mine."

"But we are linked! We are bonded! Our destinies are intertwined!" She shouted at my back, sounding desperate and not at all like the calm Jedi princess Bastila.

"I don't believe in fate. Or destiny. Goodbye, Bastila. Have a nice life." I went to step dramatically out the door, but suddenly it was slamming shut in my face. I jumped back quickly, not wanting to get my foot trapped between the heavy metal doors. I watched them as they sealed in a kind of disbelief, and then turned to the Council, my face reading, 'Oh no you didn't!'

Vandar's voice echoed with authority throughout the large, open room. "Understand that there is little choice in this matter, for you or us. Across the galaxy the numbers of our Order dwindle. We have sent many Jedi in quest of a way to thwart Malak's advance… many have not returned. The Sith hunt the Jedi down like animals, ambushing and assassinating our brothers and sisters wherever they are found. We fear it is only a matter of time until they discover even this hidden refuge."

Vrook took over as I turned around, blocking out their voices as I began searching for a way out of the chamber. There were only two doors in and out, and both were sealed tight. This cannot be happening.

"Those who have not been killed have fallen. They have embraced the dark side, giving their allegiance to the Sith and Malak, their dark lord. The lure of the dark side is not easy to resist. Malak's power grows as more and more planets fall to his conquering armies."

Pink Twi'lek dude said next, "If Malak is not stopped the Republic will fall, and the Jedi will be hunted to extinction. The galaxy will enter a time of darkness and tyranny not seen for a thousand generations."

Here's Vandar. Man, did they practice this, or have cues or what? "The Council has decreed that you and Bastila must investigate the ancient ruins you dreamed of… once the Council deems you ready."

Mister dark-skinned, green-eyed, funny voiced Dorak's turn, "Perhaps there you will find some clue, some explanation of how Revan and Malak were corrupted. And perhaps there you shall find a way to stop them."

"Mate, you've got me trapped in this room whilst you prattle my ear off. I think I have a pretty good idea why Revan and Malak left your cult. And I don't give a damn what your third-person selves decree; I am not doing anything you tell me to."

Little green wart Vandar, "You seem to have severe apathy toward the galaxy and the people in it – the people you have the power to save. But if that is the case and you do not care for the plight of others perhaps you will care more about the danger to yourself. You have a strong affinity with the Force. With such power comes great responsibility… and danger. You may wish to deny what you are, but the Council cannot turn a blind eye."

Pink man, "Neither will Darth Malak. Your strength is a threat to him. In time, he will learn of you and the Sith will hunt you down. It is inevitable. Defeating the Sith is the only way to save yourself."

I turned to them, "What?! But I don't wanna have anything to do with either of you! I'm no threat!"

"It is either you join us and learn to protect yourself against them – learn how to defeat them. Or, you join the Sith, in which case, you will be betraying your friends and the galaxy and we will be forced to imprison you until you decide otherwise." Old man Vrook said simply.

"Why can I not be a neutral party in this?!"

"I'm sorry. We need you. The galaxy needs you." Green-eyed Dorak said.

"You do realize that in doing this; that in forcing me to do and become something I swore to never be that I will resent and hate you for the rest of my life. I will be the worst, most disrespectful student you've ever seen. I will question everything you do, or teach, or have ever done. I will argue. I will be disruptive and I will probably try to run away on more than one occasion."

"It is nothing we have not seen before." Old man Vrook sighed, rolling his eyes. You know when someone says that to you and it's obvious that they're not talking about you because you haven't done it yet? That's not what it sounded or felt like. My mind was continuously racing about, trying to put together the hints and slip-ups of Bastila and the Council and what I had heard. I hadn't come up with any real theories yet, but I was on track.

"The Force flows through you like no student we have ever seen. But you are reluctant, willful, independent and headstrong… a very dangerous combination of traits."

Little green wart, "Before we send you to investigate the ruins, you must be trained in the ways of the Jedi so that you can resist the darkness within yourself… within all of us. Otherwise you are doomed to fail."

"Shove off." I scoffed, my jaw clenched and my eyes hard and unforgiving, "I won't fail. I never do."

"We must begin your training at once," Pink man said, "You have a destiny upon you that you must be prepared to face. The entire fate of the galaxy is upon you."

Old man Vrook, "I can only hope you will prove up to the task."

I looked over my shoulder, seeing both doors slide open. I looked at them all straight in the eye, glaring. "I pity you all."

* * *

Bastila and I walked out of the Council chambers together, and with each step I took, my fists tightened by my sides. The door slid to a close behind us and immediately I turned on her, glaring accusingly. Hatefully. "You said they'd _help_ me. Now look what's happened. Look what you've done. You lured me into a trap, princess. I ought to have known you would. I ought to have known I couldn't trust you. I should've left you with the Vulkars. Maybe then you would've finally learnt something about life and the people in it and how you shouldn't betray people you really don't want to get on the bad side of." I spat before turning on my heel and stalking off toward the Ebon Hawk.

* * *

The next month was grueling. I honestly thought I was going to die several times, but it seemed that the person that everyone was actually worried about was Bastila. She had been assigned as my permanent dueling partner but more than once they had to bring in a temporary replacement because I had 'accidentally' almost sliced open her thigh, or cut off her arm, or cracked open her skull.

Master Pink Man made me run, jump, skip, hop and zoom around the academy. We went for hour-long jogs in the morning –without any breaks during. I had to read datapad after damned datapad of the Jedi's history –my mind had to be constantly open to knowledge. I had always hated schooling.

And then, there was the meditation.

I. Fracking. Hated it.

For the first week I was constantly being lectured because after two hours of me supposing to have been meditating, Master Pink Man would come in and find me walking around in circles, or practicing my battle stances, or playing around on my datapad, or in the corner asleep.

Then he sat there and forced me to meditate for an hour without moving, or opening my eyes or nothing. I didn't really get much out of the forced lessons. Pink Man said that if I was doing it right I'd be able to feel the Force around me; be able to be at complete peace. I wasn't. I was just sitting there, feeling the slow cramping of my neck as I waited for something to come to me.

Another exercise I hated was where Pink Man took my datapad, forced me to stay where I was sitting on the ground several metres away, and then will it to come toward me. It worked alright. The first day I got sent to the infirmary with a massive egg growing on the right side of my forehead. The next day I think I chipped off half my cheekbone.

"Meditation will teach you to channel the power of the Force. Instead of trying to find the Force energy around you, try to focus on the energy within you. Focus on completely on yourself."

Shit, that was easy to do. What should I focus on first? My lips? My eyes? My hair? My fantastic personality? I found myself focusing on my super sexy body and started when I got to my stomach and found something beyond it. It was bright, light blue. So light blue that it was almost white and it was swirling and weaving within itself and shining brighter than any sun…

Suddenly, something hit me in the head, hard and I yelped, bringing both hands to it and losing any and all concentration. I opened my eyes just before I hit the ground from where I had been levitating more than three metres in the air.

"OH MY FRACKING BEANNUT PISSFACE GAMMOREAN MOTHER OF A SCHUTTA! OH SHIT, I THINK I'M GOING TO DIE! OH MY _FORCE_! _OHHHHHH_..." Yeah, I broke my arm and three ribs very efficiently.

Despite Pink Man's and Carth's and everyone else's pleads and prompts, I still hadn't forgiven Bastila for what she had done. I still hated everyone and everything that was remotely Jedi-like and last Thursday was I think, my 6th… no, 7th attempt at flying off in the Ebon Hawk. It took both Vrook and Vandar to keep the ship on the ground. They were more powerful than I thought…

Oh, and Mission had finally opened up about what was up with her brother, Griff and this Lena. We were chillaxing out in the courtyard, just watching the sky and the grass and the inside of our eyelids. The courtyard was as far as I was allowed to go from the Academy for the moment. I usually didn't feel in the adventurous mood these days, anyway. I much preferred to laze around and do absolutely nothing whenever I could.

I sat up from where I had been lying on the low stone wall and fixed my eyes on Mission who was reading something on her datapad.

"Mission?" She looked up. "Am I allowed to ask more about your brother now, or…?"

"Hey, yeah. I'm sorry for how I acted before. It's just anything that has anything to do with Lena just makes me get so angry!"

"Why do you hate her so much?"

"You know my brother and I had a good thing going. Sure, Griff had his run-ins with the law on Taris. But we got by okay. Until Lena came and ruined everything. She was a dancer at the cantina where my brother used to go to play Pazaak. Griff could be a real smooth talker, and it wasn't long before the two of them were dating. But Lena was used to dating rich Tarisian nobles – guys with mountains of credits. Griff could never give her the kind of lifestyle she was used to, no matter how hard he worked."

"Did she dump him?"

"I thought she would when she saw how poor he was, but for some reason she stuck around. I guess she saw the potential for a big payday down the road."

"Maybe she actually liked Griff." I raised my eyebrows.

Mission had scoffed and waved it off, "Nah, I saw Lena for what she really was – a busty, credit-grubbing cantina rat! She used Griff and took away the only family I had!"

It had definitely sounded like Mission was insanely jealous of Lena and Griff's relationship. Poor girl.

"After they'd been together for a few months, Griff told me he was leaving Taris. He and Lena were going to try and make their fortunes off-world. He promised as soon as he made enough credits he'd come back and get me and we'd all live like royalty. That was two years ago – I haven't seen him since! I don't even know where he went!"

"Maybe something happened to him."

"Oh, I know what happened! As soon as she got him off Taris Lena sunk her claws into Griff but good! She twisted him around her little finger and made him forget all about me! I know I'll probably never see Griff again. But part of the reason I came with you was the hope that I could find out what happened to my brother. But don't worry – I won't let my search for Griff get in the way of whatever we're doing."

"It's fine. If we hear anything, we'll be sure to check it out, okay?"

"Thanks. I know I can count on you."

And that's how that went. Carth and I hadn't talked seriously in all this time and I honestly was not missing it.

What I heard from Pink Man was that Canderous had gone to kill off some Mandalorians that had been tormenting, robbing and killing the farmers and their families out on the plains of Dantooine. He had been seen swaggering in two nights ago, covered in blood and carrying a blue Mandalorian helmet and a good handful of credits. Good on him.

Then, finally, after a month and I think, a half of non-stop torture, I was standing in front of Pink Man and he was saying something about me being great at everything and just being an all around awesome person.

"…Even though you are a mere apprentice, your potential is unlimited – and your progress amazing. In all my years I have never seen one who has mastered the initial training so quickly. You have done is weeks what many cannot do in years."

He reached out a pink hand and grabbed my own, grinning down at me, calmly. "I am honoured to welcome you fully into the Jedi Order."

I grinned sarcastically up at the Pink Man, "Fantastic. My life's dream… finally fulfilled. Thank you. So, so much." Pink Man sighed, pulling back and shook his head at me, used to my continuous sniping.

"Soon your apprenticeship will end and you will be granted the title of Padawan, the lowest rank of those within the Jedi Order. Yet first you must prove yourself worthy."

I frowned, "What have I been doing for the past month?"

"In the traditions and customs of our Order, as handed down from Master to pupil for a thousand generations, you must successfully complete three tests before you earn your place among the Jedi."

I narrowed my eyes warily. "What kind of tests?"

"These tests will see if you have truly mastered the training you have been given, both mental and physical. Upon completing these tests you will pass from apprentice to Padawan, and join in the ranks of the Jedi.

First, I will test your knowledge of the Jedi Code. These tenets must always guide your actions, in everything you do you must always be conscious of their wisdom. You must prove you have a Jedi's understanding of the Code. Return when you feel you are ready for this challenge."

I bowed slightly, not sarcastically or mockingly, and surprised him. I didn't notice as I was trying to figure out how all of the sudden, the entire Jedi Code was popping itself into my head and screaming out the words in the most mocking tone I had ever heard. I could imagine the jeers and laughter and eye rolls that accompanied it.

"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force." I said, and then looked at Pink Man, uncertainly. "Is that correct?"

His jaw dropped open and he stared at me. "Yes, how did you…?" Then he shook himself and smiled brightly at me, "It is sure that the Force flows strongly through you. It will not be long before you are a full member of our Order. But first you must pass the second test, and learn about the most prized possession of a Jedi, the very symbol of our Order: the lightsaber."

Against my wishes and my vow to hate everything Jedi, I found myself really quite excited at this. I was finally getting my own glow stick!

"The lightsaber is the traditional weapon of our Order. It is a symbol of a Jedi's skill, dedication and authority, and each lightsaber is as individual as the Jedi who wields it. The blade is made of pure energy, focused by polished crystals in the hilt. As the second test, each Jedi must construct her lightsaber with her own hands. And now, it is your time. Speak with Master Dorak and he will guide you through the choosing of a crystal."

"Sounds good." I slowly turned and dragged my feet toward the Council Chambers. They were all just sitting there, doing nothing. How boring.

Green-eyes stood and grinned at me and then spent the next 20 minutes asking me questions that were supposed to help him figure out which Jedi position I was most suitable for. It was a waste of time, really. I already knew I was going to be a Guardian.

Finally, he concluded it and handed me a smooth, shiny blue crystal and told me to return to Pink man. I did.

"Ah, good. Now that you have selected your crystal, we shall begin the construction of your lightsaber."

And so began my days work; trying to figure out how the hundred thousand little metal bits were all supposed to come together to make my glow stick. I stood in front of the workbench and frowned down at the pile of metal. Then I drew in a deep breath, closed my eyes, and concentrated. Force knows how long I stood there in front of the workbench. I think I must've fallen asleep at some point, still standing. At last, I was startled back into reality when a warm hand gently grasped my shoulder and Carth's quiet voice murmured in my ear, "You did it, gorgeous. Look."

I opened my eyes and whistled softly at what I saw. It was beautifully curved with the black and silver metals intricately intertwined. Hesitantly, I reached out and picked it up, staring at it tensely, waiting for it to explode. When it didn't, I let out a sharp breath, and then spun to face Carth, a massive grin stretched across my face.

"Look at that! I did it! I made a glow stick all by myself!"

Carth laughed and shook his head at me. "Good job, Mason." He said softly, staring down at me with gentle, caring brown eyes.

I blinked up at him for a moment, and then shook it off, smiling at him quickly before skipping past him to Pink Man and presenting to him my lightsaber with obvious pride.

"I did it." I informed him, in case he hadn't noticed.

Pink Man smiled at me and took the glow stick from my hands, looking it over from various angles. "It is a very unique design, apprentice; smooth and graceful, yet hard and unyielding. You have done extremely well in constructing it. Your crystal seems to have been set perfectly. It is rare indeed for that to happen the first time one constructs their lightsaber. These lightsaber crystals are very rare, you know. They are found only in caves strong in the Force. By adding crystals to your saber you can alter or enhance its properties.

There have even been unconfirmed rumors of certain Force-sensitive caves here on Dantooine that may hold these crystals. If you're interested."

I raised my eyebrows, taking back my glow stick. "Definitely!"

Pink Man smiled. "Good. But first you must learn how to use your lightsaber and take care when drawing it."

I clicked the smooth silver fingerprint-shaped button on my stick and held my breath as with a whoosh, a brilliant bright blue laser shot from the top.

_"__WOW_." I breathed out slowly.

"Your lightsaber identifies you as a member of the Jedi Order. With such recognition comes honor and respect… and the attention of dangerous enemies. The Sith and Dark Jedi will seek to destroy you, apprentice. And you must prove yourself worthy in battle against a foe who also wields a lightsaber. Are you ready to face the final challenge, apprentice?"

"Uh, sure." I said, distracted completely by my glow stick.

"For every Jedi the threat of the dark side is always present. You must truly understand this before you are accepted into the Order. You must see the corruption of the dark side for yourself. Even here on Dantooine there are places where the dark side holds sway, twisting and tainting nature itself. The ancient grove once used for deep meditation by the Jedi is now tainted; a wave of darkness perverts the region around it.

The kath hounds in the area have become savage and ruthless. They have become a threat to the settlers, a threat the Jedi have promised to stop."

"Alright. Why's the grove suddenly tainted, then? Where's the Dark Force energy coming from?"

"The kath hounds are but a symptom of the true problem. You must journey into the grove and confront the true source of the darkness. That is your task."

I frowned at him. "You didn't actually answer my question."

He sighed, "I can say no more; some things you must see for yourself. None of the other Jedi at the academy are permitted to help you in this task. But remember this, my apprentice: a Jedi acts with patience and care, and those on the dark path are not always lost forever. The dark side taints the ancient grove. Your lessons will not continue until the spreading corruption of the dark side has been stopped. This is your task, apprentice. May the Force be with you."

"I do have a name, you know." I told him on the way out the door. "And it's much shorter than 'apprentice'."


	13. 2-3

Carth, Canderous and I equipped ourselves and headed out for the grove. I smiled and waved at Nemo and a few others as we walked through the courtyard. We ventured out onto the plain and became alert; keeping our eyes out for any kinrath or kath hounds. Suddenly, an older woman with grey hair and a desperate look about her hurried over to us from where she stood by a speeder.

"Greetings, young Jedi. I wonder if you could assist me. I seem to have lost my… well, my companion." She said the word awkwardly, as if it wasn't the right description.

"You lost your companion?

"Yes. We were working on my farm to the north of here. I was working in the garden outside and he was working inside. I heard the door to the house open, but not close. I went to see and found it wide open! I searched everywhere and could not find him! I worry so much. I need him back so badly. I wonder if he… could he have been kidnapped?"

"I—"

"Maybe it was the Mandalorians… or maybe kath hounds. But… no… kath hounds are not intelligent enough to open doors. Although they have been more violent lately. No. It must have been someone who could open the door by themselves. Come to think of it, the door was locked!"

Once I had recovered from the confusion from her wild ramblings, I blinked and cleared my throat. Glancing over at Carth and raising my eyebrows, he glanced at me with a look quite similar, "Well, did someone break the door down?"

"No," She said slowly, "the door was undamaged and showed no signs of tampering."

"Could it be unlocked from the inside?"

"Well… yes," she stammered, "it could have. But he had no reason to run away! His programming…"

"Hold up. A _droid_? You want us to go out there and find your malfunctioning run-away droid?"

"Please!" She begged, clasping her hands together and looking up at me with wide, tearful, desperate eyes. "He's very valuable to me! He is the last piece of my poor late husband that I have left. He is very dear to me, my precious is. I don't know what I'd do without him. He's the only companionship I have on all of Dantooine!"

"So…uh, you live alone with this droid?"

"He is a personal assistance droid. My husband was a genius at constructing them. He made this one capable of taking care of me for the rest of my life. As the last legacy of my husband, for my own personal ease of mind, I need him back! His absence gnaws at me like a gaping wound."

"How poetic." Canderous chuckled.

"Wow. She really misses her droid, doesn't she?" Carth snickered.

I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably.

"Please, I beg of you! Return my droid to me."

I cringed slightly and sighed, looking at the crazy droid lady's hopeful face. "Alright, if we happen to see the thing, I'll send it back this way."

Without warning, the droid lady flung her self at me and clutched tightly to my arm, rubbing her tear-stained face up and down it. "Oh thank you! Thank you master Jedi! I miss him so much."

"Ah! Okay, yeah, we get it!" I cried, trying to shake her off. I looked over my shoulder at the boys who were both chuckling and making no move to come save me. I glared at them.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, okay? You can let go now…" I managed to get her to detach and then I quickly stepped back to angle myself behind Carth. Putting his body between her and I. I used him as a human shield, grabbing his shoulders and walking him backward toward the plains. I felt his shoulders shaking with his amusement as I dragged him away.

"Thank you!" I heard her scream to me.

"Oh god…"

* * *

We began wandering across the plains, using the map Pink Man had put on my datapad to find the grove. I admired the rolling hills and the tall cliffs around us. It really was quite a beautiful place. "When I get really old and wrinkly and start smelling of old people," I decided, "I'm gonna come here to die."

"Here?" Canderous scoffed and then grew serious, "I will die on the battlefield, fighting beside my people for honour and glory."

"Nice," I chuckled. We both turned our heads to look at Carth. "What 'bout you?"

He sighed, "I don't know. I guess I'll die when I die."

I chuckled again, "Man, you and the crazy droid lady should get married and write poetry together." I laughed as I avoided his swing at the back of my head.

* * *

We walked for ages and ages, fighting off the occasional kath hound, and decided to take a break as the sun hit the middle of the sky. "Hey, Candy-man?" I called, peeling my orange. "You're a Mandalorian, right? You've fought in wars. Got any interesting stories?"

Canderous turned his head slightly in my direction and raised an eyebrow, "You want to hear tales of my exploits? Of the wars I've seen and fought, the enemies I've seen die by my hand?" He asked. Then Canderous laughed, "Heh, sure, I'll humour you." He paused for a long moment, looking straight ahead into the distance, getting his story together before he started, "I've been fighting across the galaxy for 40 of your years. For my people it's the honor and glory of battle that rules us. It's through combat that we prove our worth, gain renown and make our fortunes."

I laughed out loud, "That's why you work as a _mercenary?" _I said around the food in my mouth.

He regarded me calmly from the corner of his eye, he had gotten used to the snipes and insults I threw every which way. He, along with everyone else, had come to understand that it wasn't personal, it was just how I was, "Times have changed. The Mandalore clans have been scattered across the Outer Rim, the Republic is in decline and the Sith Empire rises to take its place. The clans as they were aren't a threat, but the galaxy still fears us. Ha! People think we war out of spite, or bloodlust. They don't understand, and fear that. We only wanted the challenge of battle, and glory from it – win or lose. And we lost.

But now I have no real challenges. Crushing Davik's enemies and the pathetic gangs in the Lower City of Taris could not be considered the most glorious of tasks." Canderous sighed, and shook his head. When he spoke, emotion I had not expected could be heard in the Mandalorian's voice, "When I think of the battle I've fought… the thousands I've killed… the world's I've burned… I weep for my past."

He took a deep, shaky breath in and then stood from where he was leaning. He still hadn't looked straight at me. "We'll never speak of this again, Valery."

I stayed leaning against the rock, throwing the last bit of peel from my orange into the bushes to my left. I stared down at it, "Oh, yeah. Of course not." I said, like it was obvious, before smirking at him. He smirked back before shaking his head and moving on.

* * *

After several more hours of walking and fighting through kath hound after horned kath hound, we finally made it to the grove. We came to stand in front of an old dark grey temple that was in complete ruin. Kneeling within the ruin was a female Cathar. She was wearing a brown tunic, and arms bands over a pale blue uniform. Her head was bald but for a high pony tail. Carth began to walk forward but I flung out and arm and stopped him, using the force to sense the air cautiously. The moment I felt the dark aura around the woman, she opened her cold, yellow, cat-like eyes and fixed them on me. We all stepped back, ready to fight when she rose her hand and I felt her use the Force on Canderous and Carth. I didn't flinch as she paralyzed them where they stood. I drew my saber, glaring at her. She ignited her own lightsaber as she rose gracefully to her feet. I wasn't the least surprised to see that her blade was red.

"I will be your doom!" She hissed at me, baring an impressive set of fangs.

"We'll see about that."

The fight was not difficult. That Cathar's attacks were unrestrained and unpracticed and she seemed to not be relying on any particular tactic. I found myself easily parrying her attacks, waiting for her to simply tire herself out. She sensed this and I felt the anger in her rise. "DO NOT PLAY WITH ME, JEDI!" She screamed, taking me by surprise as she flung out a hand and Force pushed me back. I hit the ground on my back with a grunt and a thud and lay there for a moment, trying to get my breath back. I struggled to my feet, just in time to see the Cathar raise her saber, ready to attack Canderous. That same anger from Taris flowed through me, overriding the initial fear for him.

"Don't touch him!" I roared, running full pelt at her and lifting my fist with my unignited lightsaber in it to connect with the side of her startled face. She stumbled back, dazed, and lost her concentration, causing the paralysis to come into disaffect; freeing Carth and a very pissed-off Canderous. I stopped Canderous as he lifted his blaster, intent on blasting the Cathar's head off her shoulders. I looked Carth over quickly. He met my eyes and nodded to tell me he was fine. Then I looked down at the Cathar, who had dropped her weapon, clutched her cheek with both hands and sunk to the floor, curling up into a ball. I cleared my throat, rolling my shoulders and stepped forward, ignoring Carth's quiet warning.

"So, _hi._ I'm Valery." I drawled out casually. She didn't respond. I glanced briefly of my shoulder at the glary Canderous and the worried, edgy Carth. I stepped closer to the woman. "What, uh…what's your name?"

"…I am Juhani." I heard her mumble. I backed off a bit as she raised her head, revealing her tear-stained face to me. "You… you are strong. Stronger than me, even in my darkness. I am Juhani and this is my grove. This is the place you have invaded; this is the place I came to find solace when I embraced the dark side. IT IS MINE!"

"Woah," I raised my hands in surrender, "Okay. Sorry about that. It's your grove. I get it. …Is there any particular reason you embraced the dark side?"

"When I slew my master, Quatra, I knew I could never go back. Now I revel in my dark power. Power enough to crush the life from one such as you… or so I had thought…"

"And I laugh at your attempt." I scoffed at her.

She sighed heavily, sadly and I knew what I was supposed to do. How exactly I was going to do it, I had no clue. "What is it you want? Why do you bother me?"

That's it! Bastila! I just gotta channel Bastila; do what the princess would do, say when she'd say. "I just want to talk."

Okay, getting there.

"Talk?!" She scoffed in disbelief, her voice thick through her remaining tears. She wiped them away angrily. "You who have beaten me so easily just want to talk? I do not believe it. Kill me now, while you still have the power!"

Trust me, I'm thinking about it. It'd certainly be easier than this. Instead, I said in the most Bastila-like voice I could manage. "I have no desire to kill you, Juhani."

"You… you do not? I am pathetic…"

Yep.

"I sit here and think myself to be great by embracing the dark side, but I am nothing!"

Nope.

"There is no way I could be turned back! I always thought they held me back; were jealous of my power. But it is only because I was not good enough to meet their standards… I never have been."

Trust me, I don't think anyone can meet their standards but them-perfect-ass-selves. No, Bastila-like. What would Bastila say? "Come now, Juhani. You are a beautiful young woman with much talent."

She doesn't even have eyebrows…

"I thank you for your kind words, Jedi," Wait, did she just blush? "You seem to know just what affects me…"

Uhh…

"I seem to have much to learn… Both about being a Jedi and about myself. But I wish the cost of my ignorance had not been so high. I wish my master had not suffered because of me.

Wishing ain't gonna help anything now.

"It is not your fault Juhani." Bet that's not what your dead master's thinking right now.

"I only wish things could have been different… if she were still alive now, there would be so much I would say to her… so much I would apologize for. I think, in my own way, I truly loved her."

Gag me, please.

"Oh, how can the Council ever take me back with what I have done? Striking my master down in anger is unforgivable!"

Heh. Your master won't be forgiving you any time soon. "Do not worry, Juhani. They will surely take you back."

"I should convince them that I am truly repentant, that I am willing to forsake the dark side. Maybe, just maybe they will accept me back. Do you think they would? Could it be possible after what I have done?"

Pfft, I dunno. I definitely wouldn't. It's pretty unlikely they will but they _are_ Jedi… I guess if she sucks up to them enough; go on about how wise and great they are… It's worth a shot. "Of course it would. The Council will always accept you back."

"I…I thank you Master Jedi. I will return to the Council, then. I shall submit myself to their judgment and hope they will forgive me. If only there was some way I could make this up to you… Again, I thank you. I am sure I will hear great things about you in the future." And with a bow, the confused Cathar ran off toward the Enclave.

I let out a long, relieved breath. "Force, that girl can talk. That was tiresome. How the heck do the Jedi's spout that kinda crap all day? I wanted to just slap that—" I stopped myself and just shook my head.

"You should have let me shoot her." The Candy-man grumbled.

Carth said nothing, but I felt his eyes on my face. I couldn't help but feel as if we needed to talk.

* * *

By the time we arrived back at the Enclave, it was well-past sun-down. We all stumbled in, with me whining and complaining about my hunger while clutching my stomach like I was dying, and Canderous going on about how Mandalorians could go days without a proper meal and how I was such a pampered little baby. I rolled my eyes at him and his manliness and ducked as he took a swing at me. Apparently Candy-man wasn't too fond of eye-rolling. We avoided an ambush by that crazy droid lover who was running up to people and demanding tearfully if they had seen the damn droid.

I very reluctantly hunted down the Pink Man, glaring at Canderous' back as he returned to the Hawk. "Probably to eat." I grumbled to myself.

"Ah, you have done well, my pupil. The ancient grove has been purified and Juhani's journey down the dark path has been halted. Because of you she walks once more in the light."

"Yeah, I'm just that good." I smirked triumphantly to myself.

"But though she was saved," He went on like I hadn't said anything, "Do not dismiss what happened to her. Juhani is both dedicated and true to the ideals of the Order, yet she was still vulnerable to the dark side. As are we all."

I nodded impatiently and prayed he'd hurry this up. "C'mon, I'm staving." I whispered as I bounced slightly on the balls of my feet.

"She struck her master in anger during training and injured her greatly. But it was Quatra's choice to test Juhani in this way and it seems to have made its point. Juhani has been redeemed, and you have passed your final test. Congratulations, apprentice." He beamed at me as my stomach growled. "Or should I say congratulations, Padawan? You have proven yourself worthy of joining the Jedi. Let me be the first to welcome you as a full-fledged member of our Order!"

"Whoo! Yes! Great! Let's go celebrate with FOOD! _Yay!" _I saluted a chuckling Pink Man, grabbed Carth's sleeve and high-tailed it out of there. Only to be intercepted by Belaya-bitch. "Oh Force, what now?" I moaned at her. "I already told the Council that I wasn't wearing your ugly-as robes and they said they were fine with it! Take it up with them."

"No, it…it's not about your attire. You have done a great thing. One of our own had strayed, but you have returned Juhani to the Order. For this you deserve the highest praise."

"Yep, you're welcome. Any time." I nodded at her shot her a fleeting smile, while skittering around her, dragging Carth with me. I turned to continue hurrying alone when I found myself face-to-face with Cat-lady herself.

"I must give you my thanks. Because of you, I am once again welcome within the Jedi Order."

"Glad to help." I shot her a charming smile.

She blushed. "With your help, I have passed this difficult trial. The council now feels I am ready to continue with my training, though they have asked me to wait here for the time being."

"First the Jedi tricks you into becoming an enemy, then they welcome you back as a friend. I can't say I approve of their training methods."

I elbowed Carth firmly in the side and shot him a glare, hissing, "Don't encourage her!"

"I do not know what the Council has in store for me, but I will trust in the Force and the way of the Jedi to help me through whatever is to come."

I reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "Good on you. Now if you'll excuse us…" I shuffled Carth and myself around her and at last we were home free. Food has never tasted so good.

* * *

I found Carth sitting at a table off to the side in the main hold that night, writing intently on a data pad. I didn't hesitate to plonk down in the seat across from him. "Hey Carth?" He grunted in response. "We haven't really talked since we got here… so, you got some time?"

"Oh, you wanna argue some more, is that it?" He glanced up at me briefly, a frown creasing his brow before looking back down.

"No, I just…" I sighed heavily and played with my fingers on the table. "I just wanna know why you still don't trust me."

He let out a groan and brought his fingers to squeeze the bridge of his nose, clenching his eyes shut, "Why does it matter so much? Why can't you just leave it be?" He waited for an answer, but I just stared at him. I couldn't explain what I felt for him; I barely knew myself, so I didn't try to. He sighed heavily, "Look, I just don't trust easily, and for good reasons… which are my own." He went back to his datapad, clearly wanting to end the conversation there.

Well, that was fair enough. And I guess I couldn't expect him to give something for nothing. I took a deep breath in and readied myself. Wondering if this was really worth it. I looked at Carth's frowning face. At his eyes, his brow, his jaw, his nose, his two little bits of hair that refused to fall into place. And I decided to take a chance.

"When I was a little girl, I had this doll; Miss Molly. She was my best…" I chuckled softly and shrugged, looking down at my hands. Carth had stopped writing but hadn't looked up. I didn't look at him either. "Well, my _only_ friend. I took her everywhere with me. None of the other kids in my town had ever wanted to play with me or even talk to me but I didn't care. I had Miss Molly.

One day, we were sitting beneath this old tree when my mother's friend's son and his friends came up to me. He had always been… polite to me when they had come to visit, and he was one of the few who talked to me. I guess his friends had found out and laughed at him. So he came up to me and Miss Molly that day and he laughed at us. He teased and taunted me; that I could handle. But when his friends had started complaining that he wasn't being mean enough to me he…" I let out a long breath, "he took Miss Molly from my arms and he tore her apart and then set her on fire as I watched. Then I had no one.

That was the first time I ever hit anyone. The first time I truly hated someone.

A little less than a year later, I dropped out of school, walked to the boy's house and stole his swoop-bike. He and his father had fixed it up together before he had gone and got himself killed in some war. That was the first time I ever stole something." I cleared my throat, forcing away all of the emotions that were fighting their way to the surface. I leant back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest, finally looking up at him.

Carth stared back, "Do you regret what you did?"

"Should I?"

"…No, I guess not. Do you blame him?"

"For what?"

"For your life now. It's because of him that you began stealing and thinking it was okay, it's because of him that you ran away from home. It's because of him that you're where you are now."

"What? Here on Dantooine, or here with you?"

Carth stopped and stared at me for a long moment. Then he said softly, "Both."

I thought for a moment, and then said as equally soft, "Yeah, I do blame him. But in a way I'm also grateful. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have had the honour to be caught by your Republic and sold into slavery on that damn Endar Spire."

Carth rolled his eyes. "You weren't sold into _slavery_. You were hired."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "That's what they _want _you to think. Anyway, if it weren't for him I wouldn't have been there and then I wouldn't have been on Taris and ultimately I wouldn't have wound up here."

"With me."

I nodded, "With you. It's our past that makes us who we are today. And I happen to like who I am. So yeah, I blame the bastard, but I'm also grateful. I'm glad he was such a rude, selfish, bullying coward and I'm glad I punched him and I'm glad I left." I let out a huge breath.. "Alright, _there_. Now it's your turn." I raised my eyebrows at him expectantly. Carth stared back at me and then sighed heavily, deflating and suddenly looking as if he had a galaxy's worth of weight upon his shoulders.

"Alright Mason." He took a deep breath in and finally began his story. "Five years ago, the Jedi had just finished the war with the Mandalorians. Revan and Malak were heroes. I was damn proud to have served in their fleet. It was completely unexpected when they turned on us, invading the Republic while we were still weak. Nobody knew what to think, least of all me. Our heroes had become brutal, conquering Sith… and we were all but helpless before them. Think about it… if you can't even trust the best of the Jedi, who can you trust?"

"So Malak and Revan betrayed the Republic. They turned to the dark side. Why is this so personal?"

"I… of course the Jedi turned to the dark side. There were others, however, who weren't Jedi. Good men… _trusted _men, who joined them," Carth shook his head, anger marring his features and darkening his eyes. "Revan and Malak and the Sith deserve to die for what they've done... but the ones who fled the Republic and joined them are even worse. The dark side has _nothing_ to do with why they joined with the Sith." He snapped, his voice furious, "They deserve _no mercy_!" He slammed his fist down onto the table. I managed not to flinch.

I waited as he looked away from me, seemingly ashamed, and took several breaths, clenching and unclenching his fists. A concerned, gently frown was on my face. After a moment, I slowly reached out and placed my hand on his arm where it was on the table, his fist still clenched. He looked into my eyes, his face still filled with anger, but now also confusion. "I haven't joined the Sith, Carth." I told him softly.

His face crumpled and he suddenly looked so, so tired. "I… I know. I… I should apologize to you. I've become so accustomed to expecting the worst in others, and you have done _nothing_ to deserve that. I just…"

"Don't want to talk about it?" I asked with a disappointed smile. He sighed and nodded, an apologetic smile on his own face. It didn't matter. I'd get the whole story out of him one day soon; it's not like he was going anywhere. I gave his arm a gently squeeze and then stood, bid him goodnight and moved toward mine and Mission's bedroom.

"Valery," I stopped and looked over my shoulder at him, "that story… that wasn't just something you made up just to make me talk was it?" I blinked at him, "I just… know how good of a liar you are. With Juhani—"

"Carth, I'm a smuggler…" I observed the wall of anger that began to drop over his eyes, "But I would never lie to you." I laughed shortly, "To everyone else, yeah… But not you." I watched as his eyes softened at me, and I gave him a final small smile and then finally went and dropped dead on my bed, not even bothering to take off my boots.


	14. 2-4

I was awoken a short time later by a tearful Mission shaking me.

"Huh? What is it? What's wrong?"

"I saw Lena!"

"Lena? Wha…? Your brother's girlfriend?"

She sniffled and nodded, "Yeah her. She told me all these horrible things about Griff! She said that he was the one who wanted to leave me on Taris, he was the one who abandoned me. But it's not true! It can't be true!"

I sat up and held her as she rambled for a moment, not sobbing or anything, but upset all the same. "It's okay. Shhhh, it's okay, Mission. Hey, hey now."

She sniffled, "She…she said he was on Tatooine. Working for the Czerka Corp mines."

"We'll check it out. I promise. We'll find your brother."

She nodded into my shoulder, "I know. I just hope he's not in any kind of trouble when we do." I held her as she fell asleep. Moments later I followed her.

* * *

Next morning, Carth and I had a quiet breakfast together. I told him about Mission and her brother and he listened quietly. He shook his head at the end and I knew that he had the same thoughts about the situation. We finished and then headed for the training chambers. I told him I was quite able to go on my own but he insisted. He probably just wanted to see Bastila. We found Pink Man deep in meditation. He opened his eyes and stood up as we approached him.

"I have nothing left to teach you, Padawan, though a Jedi is ever learning. Even the Masters know their training is in but its infancy. Now it is time for you to seek wisdom outside the training chambers. The lessons that yet await you are to be found beyond the walls of this academy. You should speak to the Council, Padawan."

"Well, good morning to you too. And I can't believe you still won't call me Valery." I grumbled dejectedly as we turned and made our way through the maze of corridors and to the Council chamber. I hated the chamber and I hated the Council. And I hated the way they refused to let Carth enter, as if he were no better than a dog that had to be tied to a pole outside a shop.

The little green wart greeted me first. Not really, but he spoke up first. "It is good to see Juhani has returned to the way of the light. You are to be commended for your role in this. Your actions give us great hope for the future. Your training is now complete, young Padawan. And perhaps it is time we dealt with the matter of the dream you and Bastila shared."

"Bah." I rolled my eyes.

"When we heard of the ruins in your dreams, Master Dorak recognized it as one of the series of ancient structures here on Dantooine. This one in particular lies to the east of this Enclave. We sent Jedi Knight Nemo to investigate… but he has not returned. Perhaps sending him in the first place was a mistake. We now fear the worst. The Force is guiding you through your visions; it may be that exploring the ruins is a task tied to your destiny. That is why the Council has now decided you should be the one to investigate. The secrets to stopping Malak may be hidden within those ruins. You must investigate them and find what Revan and Malak were looking for. Take Bastila with you—"

"What?! No _way_!" I shouted in protest, exploding out of my hardly focused trance.

"Padawan Mason, Bastila will go with you to the ruin. The Council has decided."

I grumbled and growled and cursed Bastila under my breath. "Fine. _Whatever."_ I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Good luck, young Padawan. May the Force be with you."

"I hope you choke on your own spit." I grumbled as I walked out.

* * *

The prissy Princess herself walked up to Carth and I as we began on our way. I ignored her completely. Carth, however got all excited and happy about it. Traitor.

"Bastila! You're coming with us?" He asked with a smile in his eyes.

"The Council has decided that I must accompany Valery to and from the ruin."

"What ruin?"

I opened my mouth to answer him, but he hadn't turned to look at me at all. So I shut it again as Bastila began explaining the entire thing. I walked off in a huff toward the courtyard, not caring if they followed.

* * *

The ruin was a structure dug deep in the ground. The roof was covered in grass and plants and was round. The door was a big carved stone thing with a rectangular button in the middle. I reached out and pushed firmly on it. As I did, déjà vu swept over me and I stumbled backward, shaking my head and blinking furiously at the pressure forming in my head. Carth steadied me with a hand on my lower back.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just… feel like I've been here before. It's weird."

It was cold and dark in the ruins, not unexpected. There was a strange grey mist that shrouded our feet and I could feel icy cold tendrils of it seeping into my boots. We walked through a long, empty hall, our footsteps echoing eerily and our eyes searching warily into the deep, dark nothingness on either side of the path we walked. I stepped cautiously through an open doorway into a dimly lit room. There were three doors in the squared room, all sealed shut. The ceiling was impossibly high and the carvings on the walls impossibly intricate, but as Carth and Bastila gaped in awe I turned to one of the four dark corners of the room. I watched then as an ancient-looking spider-like droid balancing steadily on four spindly metal legs scuttled out to stand before us. I regarded it calmly, sensing Carth and Bastila's hands immediately going for their weapons. I stared into the droid's optical lens and put up a hand to signal them to back down.

"It's all right. It's just here to talk. Aren't you?"

I looked it up and down as the others stepped forward, Carth standing closer to me than necessary. What's it made of? I wondered to myself just as the thing began to speak. The language was harsh and aggressive and surprisingly not one I recognized. I blinked in shock at this fact. There aren't many languages that I don't know, and I'm not even being arrogant.

"What is it saying?" Carth asked me softly. Bastila turned her inquisitive gaze on me. I shifted uncomfortably and frowned in slight irritation, annoyed at myself for not knowing.

"I don't know."

"Really?" Bastila asked like I was bluffing.

"Yes. _Really_." I snapped at her, frowning at the droid. "In all my years I have never heard someone speaking this language, alien, droid or human."

There was a click and a whir and the droid spoke again. This time the language sounded a mix between Gammorean and Shyriiwook. My lower lip stuck out slightly and I glowered at the thing. Carth and Bastila looked at me.

"I don't know that one either." I sulked. There was another click and a whir and another language came out. Click, whir and another, and again and again. I resisted the urge to kick the thing in frustration.

"All right, that's enough. The damn thing must be too old and/or broken. Either way it's no help."

I walked past the droid to the door behind it and pressed the button. Unsurprisingly it didn't open. I moved to try the door on the left. It didn't open either. I frowned.

"The droid is trying to communicate with us by cycling through a variety of languages. It can probably understand us. The problem is it may not have been programmed with the phonemes of a language we can understand."

I was busy rolling my eyes and mocking the mentally slow princess whilst repeatedly pushing the unmoving button on the right door and ignoring Carth's: I don't think pressing the button a thousand times is going to make the door open, when the droid suddenly spoke up with:

"I can reproduce any of the languages spoken by the slaves of the Builders."

I spun around and pointed a finger at the thing, "Hey, I understood that!" I cried, walking back over to the others.

"I recognize this language as well. It is an archaic variant of the Selkath dialect spoken on Manaan. But why would a droid on Dantooine be programmed to speak ancient Selkath?"

"Communication was vital to ensure that the slaves constructed this temple according to the wishes of the Builders. But you are not of the slave species. Neither are you of the Builders. You are like the ones who came before."

"It must be referring to Revan and Malak. They likely encountered this droid when they explored these ruins."

"Can someone please help me here? I must've skipped the lesson on ancient languages." Carth rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably as I began to relay everything the droid said to him.

"What are you? What are you doing here?" I asked the thing.

"I am the Overseer. The Builders programmed me to enforce discipline among the slaves while this monument to the power of the Star Forge was constructed. At project completion all slaves were executed. I was reprogrammed to serve should a Builder return in search of knowledge of the Star Forge."

I winced. "Harsh. God, I hate slavers." I translated for Carth who frowned unhappily as well before asking the droid, "Who're the Builders? What race are they?"

"The Builders are the great masters of the galaxy, the conquerors of all worlds, the rulers of the infinite empire and the creators if the Star Forge."

"These Builders must have been an extinct people, though it is strange there is no record of their existence. Even the archives at the Jedi Academy make no mention of them."

I frowned and blinked at her, "How do you know?"

"Bastila has a photographic memory."

I spun my head 'round to blink at him. "How do _you_ know?"

Bastila, the rude person she is, interrupted my sudden spur of jealousy, "In the years before the Republic, the Hutts were a dominant force in the galaxy, but they never constructed an empire. In face, I know of no species that would fit with this information."

"What about the Sith?"

"I know nothing of these 'Sith', but they are not the Builders. The Builders are…the Builders."

I relayed this to Carth and watched his frown deepen, "How could it not know about the Sith?"

I shrugged, "Maybe it's older than the Sith."

"The empire of the Builders is infinite and everlasting. None can stand against their might and the power of the Star Forge."

This time I left the translating to Bastila as I stared at the ground strangely. "The Star Forge…" I whispered to myself. "Where have I heard that before?"

"The Star Forge is the glory of the Builders, the apex of their infinite empire. It is a machine of invincible might, a tool of unstoppably conquest."

I raised my eyebrows at that. "Sounds like my kind of machine."

Bastila frowned at me. "Or Revan's. What is the Star Forge?"

The droid stuttered slightly before whirring and repeating what it had just said. "You don't even know, do ya?" I jeered at it.

"The droid is obviously not programmed with the knowledge we seek. The Star Forge sounds like some type of weapon, perhaps…though in fact, it could be anything."

"Like a factory… or a weapons plant." I murmured, as strange garbled thoughts and images began whirling through my mind. Suddenly there was a pressure on my mind and the thoughts were gone. Whoa… what the hell was that? I thought as I winced, massaging a temple.

Bastila stared at me with a slight frown on her face. "Maybe… that might explain why the Sith were able to amass a fleet so quickly. But I suspect the Star Forge is more powerful than a mere factory. Maybe the droid has more information we can use. Ask it something else."

"Like what?"

"… Something intelligent."

"Fine… uhm… How long have you been here?"

"My chronological circuits have marked over ten full revolutions of this system's outermost planet around the sun since the Builders left."

"Ten revolutions would take more than 20, 000 years." Bastila gasped, "If this is true than this droid is nearly 5,000 years older than the Republic itself! There must be some mistake."

"There is no mistake. The Builders constructed my chronological circuitry using the technology of the Star Forge itself. My calculations are infallible."

I waited for Bastila to translate for Carth before commenting. "It's quite modest, isn't it?"

Carth rose an eyebrow at me, "This coming from you."

I grinned to myself, turning back to the droid. "Hush, Carth. Tell us about Revan and Malak; the ones who came before us."

"The ones who came before you – the ones like you, not Builders but not slaves – sought knowledge of the Star Forge and its origins. They proved themselves worthy. They discovered the secrets of the Star Forge locked beyond the sealed door behind me. But there was another who failed to unlock the secrets and paid the ultimate price."

We all blinked and looked at each other in confusion and then back to the droid to see that it had turned it's head to face the dark corner behind us, to our left. Carth took out a flash light and shone it on the darkness. There lay, in cream and light blue coloured robes, an old, grey Jedi Knight. Carth rushed forward and checked his vital signs. Bastila held her breath as Carth pulled back and turned to us, shaking his head.

"Oh no. Poor Nemo. The Council sent him to investigate… and it cost him his life."

"How can I open the sealed doors behind you?"

"Enter the proving grounds to the east and west. Within them those who understand the will of the Builders can unlock their secrets and open the doors. But those who fail will be destroyed by the power of the temple itself. More than this, I am not programmed to say."

"Revan and Malak unlocked the sealed door and uncovered the secrets of the Star Forge. Now Malak is using the Star Forge to fuel his conquest of the Republic. We have to find out what they uncovered. We have to find a way to unseal these doors to learn more about the Star Forge! The Republic is depending on us."

"So no pressure, right?" I chuckled.

* * *

"Okay, so what? The will of the Builders is to destroy super powerful ancient droids, work out how to use an ancient, alien computer and use the power of a thesaurus? _What?"_

"I agree that I am also at a loss as to what we were meant to have taken from those tasks."

We walked up to the sealed door behind the droid and stopped in momentary surprise as it omitted a deep blue glow, and then opened. I glanced at Carth just as he glanced at me, our eyebrows raised.

"Okay…?"

We walked through a much shorter but just as creepy hallway as the one before and came to yet another closed door. I stood before it, took a breath in and then pressed the button. There were seven statues in the room, all identical to the larger ones outside. And at the end of the room was an obsidian colored structure just a bit taller than Carth, which had four diamond shaped things attached to the ground, three half-diamond spikes pointing upward, and a perfect sphere resting between it all. We approached it slowly. There was a whoosh! And suddenly the obsidian glowed with intricate gold designs, the three spikes opened and where the sphere had been resting glowed the same deep blue as the seal on the door had. I stood on guard as the sphere rose into the air and shone a brilliant gold before exploding into what looked like… a galaxy. Or a map of one, anyway. The sphere became the sun and millions of tiny dots surrounded it. I swore under my breath. Carth stepped closer to me.

"This… this must be what Revan and Malak found when they entered this temple. This must be where their journey down the dark side began." Bastila said, walking closer to the thing and studying it intensely.

"It looks like a map. Is it a map?"

"It… it is some sort of intergalactic navigational chart. Revan and Malak must have used this to lead them to the Star Forge. We could use this map to follow their path and find the Star Forge ourselves. But we must be wary… they may have laid traps or concealed what they found."

"Hold up, I don't understand. What exactly is the 'Star Forge'?"

"I… I don't know, but Revan and Malak were very interested in finding it. It must be a tool of some type… or maybe a weapon. Perhaps the Council can tell us more. But I think this map might be the key to finding the Star Forge, whatever it is." We watched as Bastila slowly moved around the map, turning her head this way and that. She pointed at one of the larger dots on the thing. "See this world here? This looks like Korriban, a Sith world. And if that's Korriban, then this is… Kashyyyk…" She pointed several other dots, "And Tatooine… and here's Manaan." She stepped back then, shaking her head slightly. "But there are pieces missing: incomplete hyperspace coordinates, corrupted data…. And there doesn't seem to be anything indicating where the Star Forge itself might be."

"Maybe the worlds indicated here have more clues?" I stepped forward to stand beside Bastila then, and something happened. Some sort of… connection. For the first time I began to consider the fact that we may truly have some sort of creepy, weird Force bond thing. We stared at each other for a long moment and then back at the map. Side by side. My arms crossed, hers by her sides.

Bastila nodded, "I was thinking that, too. This map can't take us to the Star Forge, but I know that Revan and Malak visited Korriban at least once. Perhaps they discovered something more there. They may have found something on each of the other worlds that completed this map. Maybe if we find all the pieced they will lead us to the Star Forge… and some way to destroy it."

"That sounds like quite a supposition. What if you're wrong?" Carth piped up.

"What if I'm right? We can't ignore this. Finding the Star Map might very well be the key to defeating the Sith! We must inform the Council of what we have discovered. They must decide our next course of action, though I suspect our task has only just begun."

* * *

Instead of going straight back to blabber everything to the Council like Bastila wanted to, I thought it was high time we went to find those lightsaber crystal caves. I hunted one down and was very surprised to see outside the cave a droid by the name of C8-42, fighting off a small pack of horned kathhounds.

The thing turned out to be suicidal, telling us that its owner, who happened to be crazy droid lady Elise was trying to treat it like her dead husband. In every way. It left and sought out the kathhounds, hoping that its destruction would force her to meet other real people. It begged me to destroy it so I did, promising to tell her why it had to be done. Then I went on my merry way to the crystal caves.

* * *

I watched nonchalantly as Elise ran off crying about how she could not live without her precious droid. Carth shook his head, "That woman needs counseling."

* * *

As we entered the chamber, the Council member's heads turned as one, which I thought was rather amusing. The green wart spoke up: "Ah, you have returned, young Padawan. Have you discovered what it was that Revan and Malak sought in those ruins?"

"Besides the body of your Jedi Knight Nemo? An incomplete Star Map and several mentionings of something called a 'Star Forge.'"

Green wart: "A 'Star Forge?' This is disturbing. Action is required, but we must not do so in haste. We must discuss recent events in light of this new information."

Old man Vrook: "We should consult the Jedi archives to see if there is any mention of this 'Star Forge' and what it might do. We must learn why Revan and Malak sought it out."

Green wart: "Return to your ship with Bastila and we will summon you when we are done."

I frowned at that, and looked to Bastila to check if he was serious. Apparently he was. I followed her out, grumbling as I did. We met Carth at the door.

"What's going on?"

"The Council needs to talk on what must be done. Privately." Bastila explained, looking as irritated as I felt.

I rolled my eyes, pouting. "We've been kicked out." I shook my head as I walked off. "Old people."


	15. 2-5

We were sitting at the bottom of the Ebon Hawk's ramp. All of us. Mission was sitting behind me, playing with my hair, Carth was reclining on his elbows beside me, Bastila was off to the side, sitting beneath the shadow of the Hawk's cockpit, meditating, Canderous was busy cleaning and checking up his guns and Zaalbar was just standing there watching him do so.

"Hey Carth?"

"Yes Valery?"

"Can I hear the rest of the story now?"

He let out a groan. "I thought I said I didn't want to talk about it anymore." He snapped.

"Yeah, well, I told you my story. I think it'd be both fair and beneficial to the both of us if you told me the rest of yours."

"Listen sister," He sat up straight to face me with a heated glare, "just because we're working together does not mean you get to badger me with constant questions!"

Mission stopped playing with my hair and sat, looking between us with wide eyes.

"Hey, if you answered my question the first time I wouldn't be bothering you now."

"Blast it if you aren't the most frustrating woman to talk to! Isn't there someone else you can harass for a little while?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Oh,_ I'm_ frustrating? Look who's talking!"

"What? Me? What did I do?"

"I'm gonna leave now." Mission scampered off to stand with Zaalbar, not that we noticed.

I rolled my eyes at him through slits, "Oh, that's rich. Where have you been?"

"I…" He sighed, "Okay. I give up. You win. Look, I suppose I… could use someone to talk to. I'm just not used to it. And I don't know why you're so interested. But here goes. When I think of all the men who have betrayed us, the one that stands out above them all is the one I respected the most. Saul."

"What? Saul Karath?"

He nodded, "The only. Saul was my commanding officer back when the Mandalorian Wars first began. He taught me everything about being a soldier… and I looked up to him." Carth stared out at the sky, a sad look on his face. I found myself fixated, "Saul approached me before he left. He talked to me about how the Republic was on the losing side… and about how I should start thinking of my survival. I know now that he was trying to recruit me into the Sith, but I couldn't have conceived of it back then. I argued with him and he got angry and he left. I never saw him again."

"And after that it didn't occur to you that he was going to betray the Republic?"

_Really_, Carth?

"Saul was my mentor." He sighed, "He led us into so many victories against the Mandalorians, even when things looked to be at their worst. I just… I couldn't conceive of it. He… he couldn't be serious. I was wrong, of course… he not only left us for the Sith, he… he gave them the codes to bypass out scanners. I remember waking up as the first of the Sith bombers snuck past our defenses and began destroying half of our docked ships. I knew right away what had happened. I… could have stopped him. I could have stopped it all." He said quietly, hanging his head as his fists clenched.

I put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. "Carth, you trusted the man and he betrayed you. Don't blame yourself for trusting your friend. It was not your fault. It was his."

"I do blame him." He let out a sharp breath, "I blame Saul, not myself. I was… I was stupid and I ignored the danger. He nearly destroyed us all. I've fought Saul for years, now, and I ever catch up to him…" He shook his head, and when he spoke next, I was surprised at the hatred and anger in his voice. It almost… scared me. "He will regret what he's done. He will regret it…"

There was a long silence. Then, "…I think your story tops mine."

"Shut up, Mason."

"Sorry." I looked over just in time to see the corner of his mouth pull upward. I grinned to myself.

We were interrupted as some random Jedi ran up to us, drawing everyone's attention. He bowed slightly before saying in an uptight and slightly squeaky voice, "The Council has summoned Padawan Mason and Padawan Bastila to the Council Chambers." Then he walked off.

"All righty then." I groaned as I got to my feet, feeling old. "Nice, refreshing chat that was, Onasi but as always, duty calls." I said with a grin, saluting him and then jogging after Bastila who had already made it halfway to the door. I reveled in the sound of his quiet laughter behind me.

Mission caught me just before the door and chirped out of the blue, "When you guys get married am I gonna be flower girl, or am I too old for that now?"

I stared at her, confounded and then looked past her to Canderous who gave me a wink and an eyebrow wiggle. I blinked several times before simply turning and continuing on my way, hiding the blush on my cheeks.

* * *

Green wart: "Padawan, you have done well in discovering the Star Map hidden within the ancient ruins. But there is more you must do in the battle against Malak and the Sith. We Jedi know victory over the Sith will not come through martial might. The council has a mission for you, Padawan."

Green-eyed Dorak: "I have consulted our vast archives in an effort to discover the nature of this 'Star Forge', but all my efforts have been in vain."

Old man Vrook: "Still, the council are in agreement: the Star Forge must be found! Revan and Malak sought it out when they began their tragic fall; the Star Forge is surely a powerful tool of the dark side."

Little green wart: "The Star Map in the ruins showed you four planets, but it was incomplete." How did they know that? I didn't tell them that. Who told them that?

"It did not show the location of the Star Forge itself. We believe there may be similar Star Maps on other planets. Each Star Map is likely a small piece of a larger puzzle. Find the Star Maps on Kashyyyk, Tatooine, Manaan and Korriban and we believe they will lead you to the Star Forge."

"What? Now? Why would I want to go to those places? I've been to all four before and none of my visits' ends prompted me to want to go back. Ever."

Old man Vrook: "Ever brash, ever disrespectful! This is what we have pinned our hopes on?"

"Hey, I'm just saying…"

Green wart: "Peace, Vrook. We have discussed this; there is no other choice. The Jedi numbers have been ravaged by this war, by defections to Malak's cause and by Sith assassins. But we realize the importance of this mission. Yet if we sent a company of Jedi Knights with you we would surely draw the full attention of Malak and the Sith, dooming your efforts to failure."

"Good. I don't like your Jedi Knights either. I got enough people coming with me anyway, the Hawk can only hold so many."

"Of course those who aided you on Taris will come; they possess skills you may find useful in your quest. Remember that secrecy and discretion are paramount to your success. Bastila will accompany you…"

At this, I slumped where I stood. "Are you serious?"

"There is a powerful connection between you two… a connection that might be the key to unraveling the mysteries uncovered by Revan. And Juhani has also asked to accompany you. After long deliberation we have granted her request."

"Oh Force, you have got to be kidding me."

Old man Vrook: "Juhani nearly fell to the dark side. Perhaps her presence will serve as a reminder to you of the dangers of that path."

"Please, she wasn't dangerous in the least. And don't you think teaming her up with me is just a tad non-beneficial to her mental health? I mean, I live walking on the edge of the dark side. I'm not a great role model." I stopped, "Wait. That's why you're sending Bastila, isn't it? To keep me in line. She's supposed to be some sort of _babysitter_?!"

"Because of the bond you and Bastila share, you must fight together. Put aside your distrust and contempt. The way ahead will be difficult for young Bastila… and for you. But you must draw strength from each other."

Green wart: "You will not be able to hide the fact that you are a Jedi, nor should you. But the true nature of your mission must not reach Malak's ears. You may return here at any time. Dantooine will be a sanctuary for you, a safe haven. Here you can find supplies and whatever advice or other aid we may give you."

I sighed, resigned. "When do we leave?"

Old man Vrook: "You can leave whenever you wish; the sooner the better. The longer you wait the stronger Malak becomes. But first a warning, young Padawan: the lure of the dark side is difficult to resist. I fear this quest to find the Star Forge could lead you down an all too familiar path."

I frowned at that, utterly confused. What does he mean, 'all too familiar path'? Does he mean I might go back to my evil smuggling ways? What?

Green wart: "The fate of the galaxy is in your hands, young Padawan. We pray you are up to the challenge. May the Force be with you."

* * *

We walked out to where the Ebon Hawk sat waiting, me with a skip in my step. Everyone turned as we approached with a question in their eyes. I stood in front of them with a huge grin on my face. "People… we are outta here!"

For a moment, they all said nothing in shock, then as one they all cheered happily and we were finally off.


End file.
